2008 was quite a year. It began with one of my major storage shuffles. We got shelves for the old shed and my intent was to “organize” things such that I could find something when I wanted to. I’ve been shuffling things all year but the basic task which began the year worked for the most part.
The next important event was a trip to Jacksonville and High Springs for a number of reasons. I went to see Spamalot. We helped K&T to prepare for their Oscar party. Jack had a birthday party. We got to see C&C.
My doctor made a medical breakthrough in February and “cured” my chronic butt pain with a shot of muscle relaxer and a regimen of Prednisone. My butt is still OK so that visit improved my quality of life.
March saw Penny’s birthday and the 19000 step day of the river run—which I walked with the pleasant company of Christy.
C&C visited us at Easter time and shortly thereafter my brother Lou stayed with us for 3 weeks. While he was here I dusted off my Jonboat and trolling motor and went fishing with him. I haven’t used the boat or fished since. Maybe 2009 will bring more fishing.
Karen and Sophie came over in April and we found out Sophie didn’t like to wear sunglasses.
Penny and I ran off to Port St Joe to explore and take pictures. It turned out to be nice but not worth the long drive to see too often.
Our first big trip was to Las Vegas. This was my second trip there and I didn’t gamble on either of them. Las Vegas was picturesque and unique. It is a glaring juxtaposition of water and lush gardens set in the middle of a desolate desert landscape. It was a great trip.
I discovered my own private blackberry patch accessible only by kayak and brought home a few pints of blackberries over the next couple of months.
After catching 2 cats, Velcro and Meredith, in my “raccoon” trap I finally honed my trapping skills and caught the first of 4 raccoons that were devouring the cats’ food.
I went through a period with health issues—sore thumbs and a bad cold before catching raccoon #2, Rocky. I actually caught Rocky twice. He escaped the first time by lifting the sliding trap door. I had to modify the door to latch shut.
Penny found a great bike for me on Craig’s list and we got Penny a small kayak from Academy Sports and a new bicycle in the same trip to Pensacola. Shortly thereafter I got kayak racks and a bike rack, which meant we could travel anywhere with 3 kayaks and 2 bicycles loaded on the CRV (if we wanted to).
We settled in to a period of biking, kayaking and doing stuff at home. I lost my favorite outside kitty, Bianca. I planted a vegetable garden and gathered some more blackberries.
I caught raccoon #3 with relative ease. I was beginning to feel like a real woodsman.
I got caught up in a Woot-off and bought a new desktop computer with a 1TB hard drive and TV tuner. That was followed by a 24” monitor.
I got into another storage shuffle and made some temporary storage on the side of the house—which I’m still using.
It was now time for my once every few years trip to the emergency room with chest pain cause by indigestion.
Summer began and our home air conditioner ended. My computer acted up at the same time due to a window’s update. Finally the water line to our house broke, fortunately before the water meter.
July’s highlight was a trip to Jacksonville for Sophie’s\’s 1st birthday party.
August found us in Montana for a week of beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife—oh, and a couple thousand pictures.
We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary.
Lou came back to the area and stayed in Niceville until December. I saw him every couple weeks for lunch and conversation.
My tomato crop was a complete failure.
Hurricane Ike passed us by out in the Gulf and kicked up our surf to 10-15 ft waves.
I kayaked Turkey Creek for the first time.
Penny and I spent 14 enjoyable days at Debbie’s Vermont cabin. We saw what will probably be the best display of fall color. The trees were “on fire” with color this year.
Late October found me catching raccoon #4. Penny and I celebrated the 39th anniversary of the day we met.
I went to the 35th reunion of my fraternity and caught up with a bunch of old friends who, before the reunion were still 20 year olds in my head.
Penny got me a new camera for my 60th birthday—yes 60th. I tried it out for the first time with a beachwalk. We celebrated my, Karen’s and Christy’s birthdays at a Boca di Bipo(sp?) restaurant in Brandon.
Our whole family gathered in FWB for Thanksgiving.
I built a bathroom cabinet for C&C and Penny delivered it to them for their open house.
We spent Christmas in Jacksonville. Sophie made everybody feel special. I know she touched me in a heartwarming manner by smiling and saying granpa when she saw me. We went home by way of High Springs to see C&C and Penny cooked an Italian dinner for everyone.
Yesterday I got a new table saw for the shop and took my last beachwalk of the year. Mother Nature provided a beautiful sunset.
Today I find myself having gone full circle for I am again doing a storage shuffle. I’m setting up the shop for the new saw.
All in all 2008 was a very good year for me. The pain in my butt, my thumbs and my foot have all been put at manageable levels. We did many things. We are not just sitting around watching TV in our retirement. Penny and I are enjoying each day together.
Here’s to a happy 2009.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A Late Christmas?
Today I did 2 things that I usually do on Christmas Day. I got a gift and I walked the beach.
Before Christmas I mentioned to Penny that this year we got gifts for everyone in the family but us. This is because neither of us really needs anything (for which I am extremely grateful) and when we see something we want at a good price we buy it. We don’t wait for holidays or birthdays. Things worked themselves out, however. We got a refurbished 24” monitor identical to the one we have in the den for Penny. Actually we designated it as a Christmas present after-the-fact. I bought that saw I mentioned in yesterday’s blog today and it was designated as my Christmas present.
My saw adventure unfolded as follows. While making C&C’s bathroom cabinet I decided it was time to step up to a new bench top saw. The saw I have was my Dad’s and it was a bottom of the line Sears model. Its blade guard is missing and the rip fence is not parallel with the blade. The blade itself doesn’t stay perpendicular with the table. I kludged up means of accommodating those issues with clamps and wire and being very cautious in keeping at least 8 inches between the blade and my fingers. It just wasn’t a tool capable of turning out the type of work I needed to make decent furniture. I ended up making as square a cut as I could with my jigsaw. Fortunately the cabinet design was very forgiving and could accommodate pieces that were not cut square.
The problem with getting a new saw was cost. Saws with the right features began around $500. There was also the decision of what type of saw to get, another bench top, a contractor table saw, a regular table saw, a hybrid or a cabinet saw. I thought that I would get a jobsite bench top but fate turned me in another direction. I typically get cold feet when buying something major like this (except on Woot) so I did some research and periodically checked Craig’s list to see if anything worthwhile was out there. Most of the saws that showed up were cheap ones—not what I needed. Then on Sunday the Rigid contractor’s saw showed up.
I did some Google research on the saw and it looked good. I contacted the seller and made arrangements to look at the saw. The seller lives in Milton. In between making the appointment and going over there I did more research and everything I read was positive. No one disliked it and for its price the saw had features that were as good or better than higher priced saws. I actually was getting excited because the seller hadn’t used the saw much and was selling it at half the original price.
On the drive over I found myself worrying that there would be something wrong with the saw. Then I decided to take the advice I’m always tongue-in-cheek giving to just think positively and everything will be OK. So I did and it was. The guy selling it worked as head of the pharmacy dept at Sacred Heart hospital. He was bumped from that position by his boss and decided it was time to move back to Oregon. He’s had this saw 4 years but hasn’t touched it for the last 2. Before that he hadn’t used it a lot and that was obvious when I saw it. The saw is not pristine but it still had the protective clear plastic stuck on to ruler markings. It had all the pieces and most importantly the operator’s manual. We plugged it in and checked that it worked then we loaded it in the trailer. The saw has a wonderfully effective and easy to use dolly system built in and we rolled it down his driveway to the trailer. Getting up the ramp was a little more difficult. The saw has a cast iron table on it and it weighs 270 lbs!
Before Christmas I mentioned to Penny that this year we got gifts for everyone in the family but us. This is because neither of us really needs anything (for which I am extremely grateful) and when we see something we want at a good price we buy it. We don’t wait for holidays or birthdays. Things worked themselves out, however. We got a refurbished 24” monitor identical to the one we have in the den for Penny. Actually we designated it as a Christmas present after-the-fact. I bought that saw I mentioned in yesterday’s blog today and it was designated as my Christmas present.
My saw adventure unfolded as follows. While making C&C’s bathroom cabinet I decided it was time to step up to a new bench top saw. The saw I have was my Dad’s and it was a bottom of the line Sears model. Its blade guard is missing and the rip fence is not parallel with the blade. The blade itself doesn’t stay perpendicular with the table. I kludged up means of accommodating those issues with clamps and wire and being very cautious in keeping at least 8 inches between the blade and my fingers. It just wasn’t a tool capable of turning out the type of work I needed to make decent furniture. I ended up making as square a cut as I could with my jigsaw. Fortunately the cabinet design was very forgiving and could accommodate pieces that were not cut square.
The problem with getting a new saw was cost. Saws with the right features began around $500. There was also the decision of what type of saw to get, another bench top, a contractor table saw, a regular table saw, a hybrid or a cabinet saw. I thought that I would get a jobsite bench top but fate turned me in another direction. I typically get cold feet when buying something major like this (except on Woot) so I did some research and periodically checked Craig’s list to see if anything worthwhile was out there. Most of the saws that showed up were cheap ones—not what I needed. Then on Sunday the Rigid contractor’s saw showed up.
I did some Google research on the saw and it looked good. I contacted the seller and made arrangements to look at the saw. The seller lives in Milton. In between making the appointment and going over there I did more research and everything I read was positive. No one disliked it and for its price the saw had features that were as good or better than higher priced saws. I actually was getting excited because the seller hadn’t used the saw much and was selling it at half the original price.
On the drive over I found myself worrying that there would be something wrong with the saw. Then I decided to take the advice I’m always tongue-in-cheek giving to just think positively and everything will be OK. So I did and it was. The guy selling it worked as head of the pharmacy dept at Sacred Heart hospital. He was bumped from that position by his boss and decided it was time to move back to Oregon. He’s had this saw 4 years but hasn’t touched it for the last 2. Before that he hadn’t used it a lot and that was obvious when I saw it. The saw is not pristine but it still had the protective clear plastic stuck on to ruler markings. It had all the pieces and most importantly the operator’s manual. We plugged it in and checked that it worked then we loaded it in the trailer. The saw has a wonderfully effective and easy to use dolly system built in and we rolled it down his driveway to the trailer. Getting up the ramp was a little more difficult. The saw has a cast iron table on it and it weighs 270 lbs!
The saw now sits in the garage while I prepare the shop for it.
My sunset beach walk, likely the last of the year, was a pleasant one. There were very few people on the beach. I couldn’t help but compare it with the beach walk we took on Jacksonville Beach last week where there were people everywhere. The sunset was stunningly beautiful, too. Here are a some pictures.
Kitty Update—All 4 cats showed up tonight. It’s the first time we’ve seen Meredith since we’ve returned from Jax.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Lunch and a Movie
Penny and I did lunch at Slick Mick’s and then took in an afternoon movie. We saw “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. Apart from being too long and slow in a few places, I thought it was a great movie.
The movie is about a man who ages in reverse, descending through the years from newborn senescence to terminal infancy. The film provides much food for thought. It is full of emotional paradoxes and investigates interesting philosophical conundrums. Imagine yourself the sole human being that is getting younger while the rest of humanity ages together. Brad Pitt underplays his role—as if he is in deep contemplation of the consequences of his situation.
I’m usually one to pick at imperfections or gimmicks in films. To me this movie was technically flawless. I found absolutely nothing to distract me from enjoying the movie. I guess that the tiny old man Brad Pitt was generated digitally—but again it was done flawlessly. The film had some Forest Gump feel to it. Some of the relationships seemed forced but this didn’t wreck the movie.
Instead of the “life is like a box of chocolates” line from Gump this movie paints a poignant picture of cruel time and mortality. It shows that age is not a barrier to accomplishment and as far as life goes, “when it comes to the end, you have to let it go”
I’d recommend the movie but make sure you hit the rest room before you go to your seat and bring some tissues with you. If something in the movie doesn’t make you shed a tear you just don’t have any emotions.
On another note I periodically check out Craig’s List here to see if anything good is there. Last night I found a contractor’s bench saw at a good price. I currently have my Dad’s little table saw and I struggle with it to make accurate cuts. It’s got other issue also. I used it making C&C’s cabinet and found I had to be very careful and alert when cutting with it. It’s getting dangerous to use. So I’m going to take a look at this other saw tomorrow. It has a bigger footprint than what I thought I would replace the table saw with but it has a number of excellent features that make it a good buy at full price. I haven’t read a bad review about the saw—it’s rated as either best saw or best buy and owners all say they love it. So if this one is in good shape I’m going to get it.
The movie is about a man who ages in reverse, descending through the years from newborn senescence to terminal infancy. The film provides much food for thought. It is full of emotional paradoxes and investigates interesting philosophical conundrums. Imagine yourself the sole human being that is getting younger while the rest of humanity ages together. Brad Pitt underplays his role—as if he is in deep contemplation of the consequences of his situation.
I’m usually one to pick at imperfections or gimmicks in films. To me this movie was technically flawless. I found absolutely nothing to distract me from enjoying the movie. I guess that the tiny old man Brad Pitt was generated digitally—but again it was done flawlessly. The film had some Forest Gump feel to it. Some of the relationships seemed forced but this didn’t wreck the movie.
Instead of the “life is like a box of chocolates” line from Gump this movie paints a poignant picture of cruel time and mortality. It shows that age is not a barrier to accomplishment and as far as life goes, “when it comes to the end, you have to let it go”
I’d recommend the movie but make sure you hit the rest room before you go to your seat and bring some tissues with you. If something in the movie doesn’t make you shed a tear you just don’t have any emotions.
On another note I periodically check out Craig’s List here to see if anything good is there. Last night I found a contractor’s bench saw at a good price. I currently have my Dad’s little table saw and I struggle with it to make accurate cuts. It’s got other issue also. I used it making C&C’s cabinet and found I had to be very careful and alert when cutting with it. It’s getting dangerous to use. So I’m going to take a look at this other saw tomorrow. It has a bigger footprint than what I thought I would replace the table saw with but it has a number of excellent features that make it a good buy at full price. I haven’t read a bad review about the saw—it’s rated as either best saw or best buy and owners all say they love it. So if this one is in good shape I’m going to get it.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Last Sunday of the Year
Today was a “make sure we don’t trash the house after the trip” day. We did church and then Target. The rest of the day I did laundry and other housework while watching football in between. I at least got all the laundry done.
Even though my fantasy football team finished in 1st place in the league it lost the first game of the playoffs and isn’t in contention for the league championship. It’s still playing other teams but it is for nothing. Regardless of that fact I still find myself tracking the team and wanting to win. I paid more attention to football this year. I watched a good part of the New Orleans game today and it was a thriller. My fantasy quarterback is Drew Brees and he made me 29 plus points today—a very good day.
I also took a stab at setting up a fitness program for myself. Now that my foot appears to be OK enough to use normally I’ve run out of excuses. If I actually start this program you’ll read more about it in future blogs.
Kitty Update—no cats showed up yesterday. Nobody was out there this morning either. Of course, it was raining so they usually aren’t there in the rain. Tonight Lady Marmalade made her appearance followed about an hour later by Buzz.
Even though my fantasy football team finished in 1st place in the league it lost the first game of the playoffs and isn’t in contention for the league championship. It’s still playing other teams but it is for nothing. Regardless of that fact I still find myself tracking the team and wanting to win. I paid more attention to football this year. I watched a good part of the New Orleans game today and it was a thriller. My fantasy quarterback is Drew Brees and he made me 29 plus points today—a very good day.
I also took a stab at setting up a fitness program for myself. Now that my foot appears to be OK enough to use normally I’ve run out of excuses. If I actually start this program you’ll read more about it in future blogs.
Kitty Update—no cats showed up yesterday. Nobody was out there this morning either. Of course, it was raining so they usually aren’t there in the rain. Tonight Lady Marmalade made her appearance followed about an hour later by Buzz.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Back at Home, Tired But Happy
We had a wonderful Christmas Holiday. Penny brought it to a marvelous end last night by preparing a spectacular meal for C&C and his family. She made 3 types of ravioli, roasted asparagus and sautéed spinach with garlic. We stuffed ourselves but somehow still found room for some of her chocolate cherry cannoli cake and coffee.
After a Waffle House breakfast with C&C this morning Penny and I cleaned up the mess we made preparing the meal before driving back home. The drive back was not eventful. Traffic was thicker than usual. I guess a lot of people chose to return home on Saturday and avoid the Sunday crowds. The only down side was that the Wendy’s we stopped at for lunch was slammed and not handling it well.
I’m more worn out than I usually am after driving home. I’m happy, however. We got to spend some quality time with our kids, grand kid and grand animals. Except for Penny’s meal preparation there was little time pressure. We went to a park, we went to the beach and everyone enjoyed special Sophie time.
Now, for the first time in a long while, we don’t know when our next trip will be. We have nothing scheduled. On the drive back we talked about going to New Orleans for a day sometime before Mardi Gras.
There were no kitties around tonight. The feeder did its job and the food is being eaten so I expect at least 1 of them to show up before bedtime.
After a Waffle House breakfast with C&C this morning Penny and I cleaned up the mess we made preparing the meal before driving back home. The drive back was not eventful. Traffic was thicker than usual. I guess a lot of people chose to return home on Saturday and avoid the Sunday crowds. The only down side was that the Wendy’s we stopped at for lunch was slammed and not handling it well.
I’m more worn out than I usually am after driving home. I’m happy, however. We got to spend some quality time with our kids, grand kid and grand animals. Except for Penny’s meal preparation there was little time pressure. We went to a park, we went to the beach and everyone enjoyed special Sophie time.
Now, for the first time in a long while, we don’t know when our next trip will be. We have nothing scheduled. On the drive back we talked about going to New Orleans for a day sometime before Mardi Gras.
There were no kitties around tonight. The feeder did its job and the food is being eaten so I expect at least 1 of them to show up before bedtime.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas 2008
What a great Christmas. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have more family with us.
Sophie was the star today, but you have to expect me as a Grandpa to say that.
The day began with the opening of presents. Sophie got a big red wagon, which was an immediate hit. Tim got a Roomba Karen got a point and shoot camera to carry in her purse. After the presents we had a wonderful breakfast of hash brown casserole and easy-breakfast casserole. Then we went for a walk with Sophie in her wagon and Truman on a leash.
Lunch was Turkey and all the fixin’s. Then since it was 75 degrees out we went for a sunset walk on Jacksonville Beach. Lots of people were walking the beach and there was fog rolling in about 200 yards up the beach from us. The sunset was nice, too.
Sophie was the star today, but you have to expect me as a Grandpa to say that.
The day began with the opening of presents. Sophie got a big red wagon, which was an immediate hit. Tim got a Roomba Karen got a point and shoot camera to carry in her purse. After the presents we had a wonderful breakfast of hash brown casserole and easy-breakfast casserole. Then we went for a walk with Sophie in her wagon and Truman on a leash.
Lunch was Turkey and all the fixin’s. Then since it was 75 degrees out we went for a sunset walk on Jacksonville Beach. Lots of people were walking the beach and there was fog rolling in about 200 yards up the beach from us. The sunset was nice, too.
Today is also Tim’s birthday and we celebrated that when we got back to the house. Of course the celebration included more food—pumpkin role and brownies. We also found out that Sophie likes egg nog. Tim gave her a sip (regular egg nog, no booze) and ended up with her drinking his whole glass full. She got so excited drinking it. Karen fortunately had her video camera ready and recorded the priceless event.
I enjoyed the whole day. It was a very merry Christmas.
Tomorrow C&C will join us for lunch!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
2008 Christmas Eve
Today was a real holiday for me with absolutely no responsibilities. I’m too far away from home to be able to take care of that stuff-so I’m forced to relax and do very little. There isn’t much I can do for Karen and Tim in the couple of days we are here so it’s just good family time and good eats.
Tim started us off today with waffles and bacon. We took turns watching and playing with Sophie. Tim cooked up a batch of ham and bean soup. It spent all day in their crock-pot. We just had it for dinner and Yum! It was good!
We also did Christmas Mass this evening. It was the church’s children’s mass. The children dressed as angels and shepherds acted out the gospel reading as the priest read. It was a neat way to do it. The kids didn’t have to recite any lines. It fit right into the mass instead of adding to it time-wise and the kids had their special moment to remember. At the end of mass the angels and shepherds joined the procession out of the church. The littlest angel was having trouble with her wings and stepping on her dress—cute and appropriate.
After church we went back to the park we hit yesterday and took some family pictures.
Tim started us off today with waffles and bacon. We took turns watching and playing with Sophie. Tim cooked up a batch of ham and bean soup. It spent all day in their crock-pot. We just had it for dinner and Yum! It was good!
We also did Christmas Mass this evening. It was the church’s children’s mass. The children dressed as angels and shepherds acted out the gospel reading as the priest read. It was a neat way to do it. The kids didn’t have to recite any lines. It fit right into the mass instead of adding to it time-wise and the kids had their special moment to remember. At the end of mass the angels and shepherds joined the procession out of the church. The littlest angel was having trouble with her wings and stepping on her dress—cute and appropriate.
After church we went back to the park we hit yesterday and took some family pictures.
The last thing Karen did before putting Sophie to bed was read her “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.
Tonight there is a promise of peanut butter and pumpkin pies.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Eve Eve 2008
We spent an easy relaxing day in Jacksonville. Breakfast was at Famous Amos, of course. Our first task after that was to bring Karen’s laptop in for warranty repair. I found that Toshiba has a repair center here in Jacksonville. They said they usually turn things around within a week, which was a pleasant surprise. The last time I put something in for repair it was 8 weeks before I got it back. Karen’s laptop arrived with an intermittent problem that caused small black lines to randomly and quickly blink on the display. It didn’t affect the computer’s function but it is an indication of something wrong that would only worsen with time.
We spent the rest of the morning looking at and selecting material for Penny’s next quilt. In one of the stores I saw a plastic Christmas ornament that was supposed to look like a popcorn ornament. The color and shape of the “popcorn” looked to me like a bunch of teeth stuck together.
Tim’s birthday is Christmas day and he already had a home-cooked meal planned for Christmas Eve (tomorrow) so we took him out for a birthday dinner tonight. We ate at La Nopalera a Mexican restaurant with excellent food.
Sophie has been in a great mood. She’s a very happy kid when she has no ear infections. We went to Karen’s favorite park before the restaurant and Sophie played in the sand and on the swings. She went to daycare today but she will be at home tomorrow.
So far we have no plans for tomorrow other than the evening meal and possible evening church.
We spent the rest of the morning looking at and selecting material for Penny’s next quilt. In one of the stores I saw a plastic Christmas ornament that was supposed to look like a popcorn ornament. The color and shape of the “popcorn” looked to me like a bunch of teeth stuck together.
Tim’s birthday is Christmas day and he already had a home-cooked meal planned for Christmas Eve (tomorrow) so we took him out for a birthday dinner tonight. We ate at La Nopalera a Mexican restaurant with excellent food.
Sophie has been in a great mood. She’s a very happy kid when she has no ear infections. We went to Karen’s favorite park before the restaurant and Sophie played in the sand and on the swings. She went to daycare today but she will be at home tomorrow.
So far we have no plans for tomorrow other than the evening meal and possible evening church.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
It’s Beginning to Feel a Lot Like…
Penny and I haven’t put up any Christmas decorations at all. It’s not that we are being “bah-humbug” Scroogish or anything. We’ve just been busy doing other things. My primary diversion for a couple of weeks was making the cabinet in time for C&C’s open house. Penny has been embroidering for that also and cooking.
Since we are having no one over this year we just decided to put our energies elsewhere. We save time by not putting anything up and not having to take anything down. As a result we have been able to keep up with the house quite well these past few weeks. We should hit the New Year with no huge backlog of housework.
Tomorrow is the last day of my Prednisone regimen for my foot. The foot has turned into another hurt that seems like it will stay with me at a minor degree. That’s the way my thumbs are now. They hurt some all the time but it’s tolerable. If I use my hands a lot they will hurt a lot but they calm down after a day or 2. My foot is now similar to that. The Prednisone did knock down the inflammation and let whatever was causing my problem mend itself sufficiently that I think I can start my walking routine again. That’s when I’ll find out if my foot is OK. It’s time to get in shape for the Gate River Run! The lack of exercise over the past 4 months is showing up in my waistline. Not good.
Last night and this morning I pulled out some of the tapes we have of the kids when they were very young. I put together a hasty selection of Christmases past and some other snippets of K&C that were on the tape. I burned them on to a DVD for our holiday viewing pleasure. It is neat to see the kids small again and remember how things were.
The temperature is dropping to 29 degrees tonight. I put some extra blankets out for the kitties and to my surprise Marmalade and Meredith actually curled up in them. Brother Lou called me tonight. He said he forgot to call on Saturday because They are snowed in. He says they have a couple of feet of snow—the worst in a decade—and everyone is blaming him for bringing them the bad weather. I’ll happily take our dry 29 degrees considering what the rest of the country is experiencing this week. It looks like a bad winter ahead this year. Keep warm.
Since we are having no one over this year we just decided to put our energies elsewhere. We save time by not putting anything up and not having to take anything down. As a result we have been able to keep up with the house quite well these past few weeks. We should hit the New Year with no huge backlog of housework.
Tomorrow is the last day of my Prednisone regimen for my foot. The foot has turned into another hurt that seems like it will stay with me at a minor degree. That’s the way my thumbs are now. They hurt some all the time but it’s tolerable. If I use my hands a lot they will hurt a lot but they calm down after a day or 2. My foot is now similar to that. The Prednisone did knock down the inflammation and let whatever was causing my problem mend itself sufficiently that I think I can start my walking routine again. That’s when I’ll find out if my foot is OK. It’s time to get in shape for the Gate River Run! The lack of exercise over the past 4 months is showing up in my waistline. Not good.
Last night and this morning I pulled out some of the tapes we have of the kids when they were very young. I put together a hasty selection of Christmases past and some other snippets of K&C that were on the tape. I burned them on to a DVD for our holiday viewing pleasure. It is neat to see the kids small again and remember how things were.
The temperature is dropping to 29 degrees tonight. I put some extra blankets out for the kitties and to my surprise Marmalade and Meredith actually curled up in them. Brother Lou called me tonight. He said he forgot to call on Saturday because They are snowed in. He says they have a couple of feet of snow—the worst in a decade—and everyone is blaming him for bringing them the bad weather. I’ll happily take our dry 29 degrees considering what the rest of the country is experiencing this week. It looks like a bad winter ahead this year. Keep warm.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
All By Myself
This evening I am home alone. Penny is in Jacksonville. She drove over this afternoon after the laptop and desktop computers were delivered to our house. Her plan is to go to C&C’s tomorrow and help them clean house to get ready for their open house. She’s staying with Karen tonight to stay out of C&C’s way. She’s been planning this trip all week. Yesterday she baked a bunch of cookies. Some are going to Karen some are going to Christy. I stayed home because we’re expecting the delivery of a monitor tomorrow. I just checked the shipping schedule and it appears to be on time.
Penny is being a regular delivery van on this trip. She’s got Karen’s new laptop, C&C’s desktop, and the finished bathroom cabinet that I made for C&C. I put the final layer of finish on the cabinet last night and Penny and I loaded it into the back of the CRV this morning. Here are a couple pictures of it. It's a narrow pantry-type slide out drawer with 3 shelves on it. On top is separate 3 section display shelf. It's sized to fit between their pedestal sink and the wall in their bathroom.
Penny is being a regular delivery van on this trip. She’s got Karen’s new laptop, C&C’s desktop, and the finished bathroom cabinet that I made for C&C. I put the final layer of finish on the cabinet last night and Penny and I loaded it into the back of the CRV this morning. Here are a couple pictures of it. It's a narrow pantry-type slide out drawer with 3 shelves on it. On top is separate 3 section display shelf. It's sized to fit between their pedestal sink and the wall in their bathroom.
We’ve been getting things delivered to the house almost every day for the past week. The juicer Sister Kathy sent arrived on Tuesday. The Skype camera/headsets arrived Wednesday. Today the two computers came. Tomorrow the monitor should come and the blu-ray planet earth DVDs is that I ordered.
The monitor we’re getting was a really good buy. We’re going to use it on the computer in Penny’s sewing room. It’s the exact same monitor that I have on my computer in the den. It’s refurbished and cost half of what mine did. We got a 24 inch HD monitor for the price of what a 17 inch monitor costs.
I haven’t had a chance to try the new juicer yet but it looks like a great one. Sister Kathy got me a Jacl LaLaine power juicer and it’s no toy. A couple years back or so we bought a cheap juicer from the Black &Decker outlet. It was a toy. It was hard to use, took a lot of time and was hard to clean. Although I haven’t used this new one yet it is well built and well designed. You can put whole fruits and vegetables in it. There is no need to cut things up as long as they fit in the 3” diameter feed tube. I’ll be interested to see whether we start using it regularly or if it ends up on the shelf. If it works as well as it appears it will and it’s easy to clean up, I think we may be making ourselves juice in the mornings and juice in the evenings many days. I’ll keep you informed.
My car battery died today, too. Right after Penny left. I looked at it and it was just over 3 years old. It also had a 3 year replacement waranty and a pro-rated 100 month warranty. I have a couple of old batteries that I use for the trolling motor so I was able to use one of those to start my car and go to Sears. The waranty gave me $51 toward the replacement battery which listed at $90. So It wasn't all Bad.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday-16 Dec
I’ve been putting most of my time into finishing the bathroom cabinet for C&C. I’ve now got it finished and 2 coats of stain applied. It came out pretty good. As with everything there are a few flaws but I don’t thing they will detract from the finished product.
Yesterday we did take time to dance. Penny and I went to a Monday wedding of one of the couples from our church that we did marriage-prep with. It was a morning wedding- no attendants but a nice ceremony. The reception was at the Hurlburt O-Club where we were treated to a fantastic breakfast buffet. Eggs, bacon, sausage, salads, fruits and other breakfast things. Surprisingly (to me) everything tasted great! There were only a small number of young people there so the crowd was not as responsive to the DJ. He was a very active DJ. He would come out and join the dancing. He showed how to do the electric slide and then joined in.
Penny had to keep her distance from the speakers (ear issues) so we danced a romantic slow dance off to the side of the room while the DJ played Unchained Melody.
We haven’t spent enough money yet this month so we got new tires on my CRV today. Dragging a loaded trailer had worn the tires sooner than expected. We’re also going to need tires on Penny’s CRV soon. I don’t know if I should bite the bullet and do it now or just rotate and align her tires and see if we can get another 6 months out of them.
That’s it for today—not anything exciting going on—4 cats in the yard, a bunch of green tomatoes and looking forward to a family Christmas.
Yesterday we did take time to dance. Penny and I went to a Monday wedding of one of the couples from our church that we did marriage-prep with. It was a morning wedding- no attendants but a nice ceremony. The reception was at the Hurlburt O-Club where we were treated to a fantastic breakfast buffet. Eggs, bacon, sausage, salads, fruits and other breakfast things. Surprisingly (to me) everything tasted great! There were only a small number of young people there so the crowd was not as responsive to the DJ. He was a very active DJ. He would come out and join the dancing. He showed how to do the electric slide and then joined in.
Penny had to keep her distance from the speakers (ear issues) so we danced a romantic slow dance off to the side of the room while the DJ played Unchained Melody.
We haven’t spent enough money yet this month so we got new tires on my CRV today. Dragging a loaded trailer had worn the tires sooner than expected. We’re also going to need tires on Penny’s CRV soon. I don’t know if I should bite the bullet and do it now or just rotate and align her tires and see if we can get another 6 months out of them.
That’s it for today—not anything exciting going on—4 cats in the yard, a bunch of green tomatoes and looking forward to a family Christmas.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
A How Great Thou Art Day
Nature provided us with a very picturesque day to day. On our way to Waffle House this morning there was a layer of frost on the roofs and the cars. When we got to the end of Mooney road there was a huge full moon behind a light lace of clouds which made the moon look as if it were embossed in the sky.
Tonight on the way to church we had a gorgeous sunset. It was deep red color with sufficient clouds to make it just right. Finally on our return from church we once again saw a huge full moon behind layered light clouds making it picture card perfect.
As I’ve already mentioned, we did our normal Saturday Waffle House run. Then we went to Lowe’s and got some screws and stain to use on the project. And then I spent the rest of the day working on the project until we went to church.
We got to hear Walt Richardson sing in church today. One of the local retired priests died this week and Walt provided us with the performance of his favorite song, “How Great Thou Art”, for us at mass today. Walt used to sing regularly at our church but he is no longer our deacon and we haven’t been blessed with one of his performances in quite a while. This may be the last time we hear him singing. We had our mp3 recorder with us so I recorded him. How great thou art, Walt.
Kitty Update—all four cats showed up tonight. For this past week only Buzz and Velcro have been here. Now that it’s the weekend Marmalade and Meredith suddenly appear out there wanting to be fed. They all seem to manage through the cold weather.
Tonight on the way to church we had a gorgeous sunset. It was deep red color with sufficient clouds to make it just right. Finally on our return from church we once again saw a huge full moon behind layered light clouds making it picture card perfect.
As I’ve already mentioned, we did our normal Saturday Waffle House run. Then we went to Lowe’s and got some screws and stain to use on the project. And then I spent the rest of the day working on the project until we went to church.
We got to hear Walt Richardson sing in church today. One of the local retired priests died this week and Walt provided us with the performance of his favorite song, “How Great Thou Art”, for us at mass today. Walt used to sing regularly at our church but he is no longer our deacon and we haven’t been blessed with one of his performances in quite a while. This may be the last time we hear him singing. We had our mp3 recorder with us so I recorded him. How great thou art, Walt.
Kitty Update—all four cats showed up tonight. For this past week only Buzz and Velcro have been here. Now that it’s the weekend Marmalade and Meredith suddenly appear out there wanting to be fed. They all seem to manage through the cold weather.
Friday, December 12, 2008
To Speak or Type?
I am using the speech recognition feature of my computer for the first time. I’m going to try to write my blog completely hands free tonight.
This computer has had this feature all along and I just didn’t notice it was there. So far, so good.
Today, being Friday, we started our normal weekend with a trip to Target. We followed that with a trip to the mall to finish up Christmas shopping. Since we were there and it was lunchtime we forced ourselves to have Chick-fil-a once again. We hit a couple more places then came home and I went back to work on the project.
I’ve run out of books on tape to listen to so I’ve downloaded a number of pod casts and I’ve been listening to those while I work out shed. I listened to a number of the Fresh Air shows today covering topics including the current economic crisis to orangutan communication. At least I'm keeping up on current events now.
I got all the major pieces of the project cut to size now and tomorrow I will start sanding and final asssembly. This phase will take a little more time because what I am doing will show and I want it to look halway decent. Next will come putting on molding and the finish.
Tomorrow is our normal Waffle House Saturday. We are sort of hazy as to whether the couple is going to come to see us tomorrow or not. When they canceled because of the weather we didn’t get a firm time. They were supposed to call us back. So we’ve got a message into them but here it is Friday evening and we’re still not sure whether they’re coming tomorrow or not.
So that’s my first stab at speech recognition. It’s got a few bugs but with a little practice it’s probably going to be easier than typing for me. It actually looks at all our documents to recognize words we say such as Guglielmoni. Now I’m going to see if I can actually post this would just verbal commands.
This computer has had this feature all along and I just didn’t notice it was there. So far, so good.
Today, being Friday, we started our normal weekend with a trip to Target. We followed that with a trip to the mall to finish up Christmas shopping. Since we were there and it was lunchtime we forced ourselves to have Chick-fil-a once again. We hit a couple more places then came home and I went back to work on the project.
I’ve run out of books on tape to listen to so I’ve downloaded a number of pod casts and I’ve been listening to those while I work out shed. I listened to a number of the Fresh Air shows today covering topics including the current economic crisis to orangutan communication. At least I'm keeping up on current events now.
I got all the major pieces of the project cut to size now and tomorrow I will start sanding and final asssembly. This phase will take a little more time because what I am doing will show and I want it to look halway decent. Next will come putting on molding and the finish.
Tomorrow is our normal Waffle House Saturday. We are sort of hazy as to whether the couple is going to come to see us tomorrow or not. When they canceled because of the weather we didn’t get a firm time. They were supposed to call us back. So we’ve got a message into them but here it is Friday evening and we’re still not sure whether they’re coming tomorrow or not.
So that’s my first stab at speech recognition. It’s got a few bugs but with a little practice it’s probably going to be easier than typing for me. It actually looks at all our documents to recognize words we say such as Guglielmoni. Now I’m going to see if I can actually post this would just verbal commands.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Born on a Blue Day
While working on C&C’s cabinet I listened to the book Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. The publisher describes the book as “a journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today — guided by its owner himself. Daniel Tammet sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.
Daniel has a compulsive need for order and routine — he eats the same precise amount of cereal for breakfast every morning and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. When he gets stressed or is unhappy, he closes his eyes and counts. But in one crucial way Daniel is not at all like the Rain Man: he is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life. He has emerged from the "other side" of autism with the ability to function successfully — he is even able to explain what is happening inside his head.”
The fact that the book was read by the author himself added another dimension to my enjoyment.
It was interesting to see little bits of him in myself and the people I know in his personality quirks.
The primary reason he made it was because he had loving and understanding support all his life from his family and friends.
For the first time I was able to understand what goes on in these people’s minds and it opens up a world of new questions about how the mind works.
At the end of the book the author finds it remarkable that he is accepted and honored in the adult world for his differences—the same differences that made him an object of ridicule and taunting when he was a child.
Daniel has a compulsive need for order and routine — he eats the same precise amount of cereal for breakfast every morning and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. When he gets stressed or is unhappy, he closes his eyes and counts. But in one crucial way Daniel is not at all like the Rain Man: he is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life. He has emerged from the "other side" of autism with the ability to function successfully — he is even able to explain what is happening inside his head.”
The fact that the book was read by the author himself added another dimension to my enjoyment.
It was interesting to see little bits of him in myself and the people I know in his personality quirks.
The primary reason he made it was because he had loving and understanding support all his life from his family and friends.
For the first time I was able to understand what goes on in these people’s minds and it opens up a world of new questions about how the mind works.
At the end of the book the author finds it remarkable that he is accepted and honored in the adult world for his differences—the same differences that made him an object of ridicule and taunting when he was a child.
Step Away From the Computer
Penny and I went Christmas crazy on-line today. It started at 3AM. There is a WOOT-off going on and we monitor that to see if there are any good deals and to take the challenge of trying to get one or more of their “bags-o-crap”. We also know C&C are looking for an inexpensive replacement for his parent’s computer so they(parents) can do basic computer things more easily.
I awoke at 3ish AM for a bathroom run and woke up the laptop beside the bed. Up popped a 160 GB desktop with all the necessary features for only $169, no tax and $5 to ship. When these buys come up one must not hesitate—they sellout fast—so I quickly checked its specs and pressed the “I want one” button. As I completed the sale the item sold out. I got 1 of the 13 units they were selling.
Later in the morning when I was discussing the purchase with Penny another item, which I thought might be useful for everyone, came up at a very inexpensive price. It was a skype compatible headset and web cam. I got 3.
Since I was watching the computer this was a good time to get gifts for Kathy and Joe. I did that.
Then WOOT dangled a 17” Toshiba laptop out there. Karen is in need of a good laptop and this one looked like it would fit her needs and it was a good price. We got that, too.
All I thought I might buy when the WOOT-off started was perhaps a big SD card for my camera or one of the inexpensive little fun items they sometimes have. I had no idea what we were in store for. Merry Christmas!
I awoke at 3ish AM for a bathroom run and woke up the laptop beside the bed. Up popped a 160 GB desktop with all the necessary features for only $169, no tax and $5 to ship. When these buys come up one must not hesitate—they sellout fast—so I quickly checked its specs and pressed the “I want one” button. As I completed the sale the item sold out. I got 1 of the 13 units they were selling.
Later in the morning when I was discussing the purchase with Penny another item, which I thought might be useful for everyone, came up at a very inexpensive price. It was a skype compatible headset and web cam. I got 3.
Since I was watching the computer this was a good time to get gifts for Kathy and Joe. I did that.
Then WOOT dangled a 17” Toshiba laptop out there. Karen is in need of a good laptop and this one looked like it would fit her needs and it was a good price. We got that, too.
All I thought I might buy when the WOOT-off started was perhaps a big SD card for my camera or one of the inexpensive little fun items they sometimes have. I had no idea what we were in store for. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
When the Rain Comes
We were supposed to have a couple here today fro FOCCUS but they called and canceled because of the weather. We had heavy thunderstorms roll through and were under tornado watches.
Penny and I had cleared the decks and made the session our priority today so when they called we wanted to go back to our projects. I was able to get back to cabinet building but she couldn’t use her sewing machine in the rumbly weather. It wasn’t a good idea to do laundry or even be on the computer. Penny likes to read on days like this but her health even prevents that today. So she’s not having a good day. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow also then get cold.
I did get to finish the basic cabinet structure and the 3-shelf drawer and put them together today. An open shelf top and all the finish molding and facing remains to be built. Then it’s sanding and finishing. It looks like I can finish this one on deadline.
Christy’s plant in our front yard is in full bloom. Penny and I played around taking pictures of it yesterday. It is keeping many bees busy.
I find all of the lawyer-speak going on about the Illinois Governor selling the senate seat interesting. You’ve got to really analyze what is said because it’s not what it sounds like.
Example: Would you say that such and such was involved? Answer- I cant say that. That sounds like “no” but is simply a statement that the guy was instructed not to say anything.
Example: We- ah – I was not in contact with the Governor’s office. Translation—my staff handled it for me.
Example: I never made an offer to pay for a senate seat. Translation—They came to me with an offer.
Bill Clinton was masterful in saying things that sound good and are true but actually admit wrongdoing. I get a kick out of the journalists accepting answers like this from politicians.
Monday, December 08, 2008
A Borders Christmas
I got an e-mail confirmation from Borders today and at first it looked as if they messed up the deal they offered me. What it looked like was that I was now getting 2 copies of the Blu-Ray version of Planet Earth and being charged $86. I called them and fortunately got the same person I talked with on the previous call. She didn’t understand what her supervisor did either. Long story short, although the bill was confusing what Borders did was sell me 2 copies of the Blu-Ray version of Planet Earth for $9.99 each.
So if all goes through, as I understand it now, I have 2 copies of the Planet Earth coming to me and now I have to get a Blu-Ray Player before I can watch them. I didn’t expect 2 copies and I didn’t expect the Blu-Ray. I’m getting pushed into the world of high definition. Eventually we will either get a Blu-Ray player or a Blu-Ray drive for the computer.
I cut out all the major pieces of the cabinet for C&C today. Tomorrow I will begin assembly. So far it’s an easy project and seems to be going fine. It’s only going to provide 3 –18 inch long and 6 ½ inch wide shelves but it will provide needed storage space.
The tomato plants are still alive and survived the latest round of mid-30 degree temperatures. We may at least get a good batch of fried green tomatoes out of them.
Penny and I had a movie night tonight. We rented Iron Man, popped some popcorn and drank a glass of wine as we watched the movie. We enjoyed it.
So if all goes through, as I understand it now, I have 2 copies of the Planet Earth coming to me and now I have to get a Blu-Ray Player before I can watch them. I didn’t expect 2 copies and I didn’t expect the Blu-Ray. I’m getting pushed into the world of high definition. Eventually we will either get a Blu-Ray player or a Blu-Ray drive for the computer.
I cut out all the major pieces of the cabinet for C&C today. Tomorrow I will begin assembly. So far it’s an easy project and seems to be going fine. It’s only going to provide 3 –18 inch long and 6 ½ inch wide shelves but it will provide needed storage space.
The tomato plants are still alive and survived the latest round of mid-30 degree temperatures. We may at least get a good batch of fried green tomatoes out of them.
Penny and I had a movie night tonight. We rented Iron Man, popped some popcorn and drank a glass of wine as we watched the movie. We enjoyed it.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
The Bargaining Insomniac
Here I sit at 4AM Saturday morning typing my blog. You may ask why I am doing this? Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you.
I am in Jacksonville. We came here to watch Sophie while K&T took their drum line to the Orlando Magic’s game.
This past Tuesday night that cold I was hoping to avoid finally got its hooks into me and it is still with me. This is reason #1 I am awake. I started coughing and couldn’t go back to sleep. Ah, but that in itself is not sufficient grounds to leave the comfy bed you may say. So I will provide further explanation.
Last Thursday I went in to see my doctor for a normal checkup. If you’ve been reading my blog you know that I have had foot trouble since we went on our razzelberry pie and hiking adventure to Montana’s beautiful Glacier National Park. I explained my problem to the doctor (well, actually it was the PA) and he once again put me on a regimen of Prednisone. I’m hoping this will push my foot into healing. This procedure has provided some relief for me in the past with my hands, my shoulders and my back. The side effects I get are 1, a nice feeling of euphoria (which the cold has completely trashed) and 2, I wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and can’t go back to sleep. I really thought the cold and the cold medication I’m taking would counter this effect but it didn’t. Instead the coughing awakened me and the Prednisone then took over.
But all is not lost. I do have a follow-on story about my foray into the Borders on line store and my attempt to purchase the Planet Earth complete series (in HD) for $9.99.
I wrote Borders a polite and only slightly ugly e-mail after they cancelled my order. I didn’t get a response so I wrote a second e-mail which again was polite and slightly ugly but this time instead of asking them to make it right I told them (in accordance with all of my “how to negotiate” training) what I thought would be a satisfactory solution. I said I would accept 1 copy of the Planet Earth DVD series –not HD—at the price of $9.99 as a reasonable substitute for the 2 HD copies I had ordered at that price.
After I sent off the 2nd E-mail I got a response to my first and Borders offered me a 40% discount on any single purchase. That’s not too bad but it still was going to cost me more than $9.99. Today I spent most of the day resting because of the cold and Penny checked our e-mails. She brought me the computer after reading an e-mail from Borders. It said that they would sell me the DVD (not HD) for $9.99 and gave me a number to call—so I did.
I made the order. The last thing the girl on the phone said to me was “You got a super deal on this!” I haven’t received an e-mail from them confirming my order yet—but I think I may have won this one.
Yesterday I found another great buy at Buy.com. I could get 2, 4 GB flash drives for $4.99 each with free shipping. I ordered them. I was unpleasantly surprised today when they wrote me telling me they didn’t have the item and were refunding my money. Buy.com has been my favorite site for purchasing on line and this really shocked me. I had their order confirmation saying the item was in stock and they were canceling the order. So, today I wrote them a polite and not so ugly letter and explained how they could make it right for me. It worked with Borders, now we will see how Buy.com responds.
So, now I’ll post this blog, put my feet up and search the internet for more Christmas bargains.
I am in Jacksonville. We came here to watch Sophie while K&T took their drum line to the Orlando Magic’s game.
This past Tuesday night that cold I was hoping to avoid finally got its hooks into me and it is still with me. This is reason #1 I am awake. I started coughing and couldn’t go back to sleep. Ah, but that in itself is not sufficient grounds to leave the comfy bed you may say. So I will provide further explanation.
Last Thursday I went in to see my doctor for a normal checkup. If you’ve been reading my blog you know that I have had foot trouble since we went on our razzelberry pie and hiking adventure to Montana’s beautiful Glacier National Park. I explained my problem to the doctor (well, actually it was the PA) and he once again put me on a regimen of Prednisone. I’m hoping this will push my foot into healing. This procedure has provided some relief for me in the past with my hands, my shoulders and my back. The side effects I get are 1, a nice feeling of euphoria (which the cold has completely trashed) and 2, I wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and can’t go back to sleep. I really thought the cold and the cold medication I’m taking would counter this effect but it didn’t. Instead the coughing awakened me and the Prednisone then took over.
But all is not lost. I do have a follow-on story about my foray into the Borders on line store and my attempt to purchase the Planet Earth complete series (in HD) for $9.99.
I wrote Borders a polite and only slightly ugly e-mail after they cancelled my order. I didn’t get a response so I wrote a second e-mail which again was polite and slightly ugly but this time instead of asking them to make it right I told them (in accordance with all of my “how to negotiate” training) what I thought would be a satisfactory solution. I said I would accept 1 copy of the Planet Earth DVD series –not HD—at the price of $9.99 as a reasonable substitute for the 2 HD copies I had ordered at that price.
After I sent off the 2nd E-mail I got a response to my first and Borders offered me a 40% discount on any single purchase. That’s not too bad but it still was going to cost me more than $9.99. Today I spent most of the day resting because of the cold and Penny checked our e-mails. She brought me the computer after reading an e-mail from Borders. It said that they would sell me the DVD (not HD) for $9.99 and gave me a number to call—so I did.
I made the order. The last thing the girl on the phone said to me was “You got a super deal on this!” I haven’t received an e-mail from them confirming my order yet—but I think I may have won this one.
Yesterday I found another great buy at Buy.com. I could get 2, 4 GB flash drives for $4.99 each with free shipping. I ordered them. I was unpleasantly surprised today when they wrote me telling me they didn’t have the item and were refunding my money. Buy.com has been my favorite site for purchasing on line and this really shocked me. I had their order confirmation saying the item was in stock and they were canceling the order. So, today I wrote them a polite and not so ugly letter and explained how they could make it right for me. It worked with Borders, now we will see how Buy.com responds.
So, now I’ll post this blog, put my feet up and search the internet for more Christmas bargains.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Obits and Planet Earth
Well, we’ve reached the age where we check the obituaries every day to see if someone we know is there. We are hitting 1 about every month now.
I cut some of the pieces for C&C’s cabinet today. It was the first time I used my new jigsaw (I’ve had it for about a year now) on a real project and it works great. Before this I’ve only used those little jigsaws. They work OK but there is no comparison with the ease and accuracy I can get with this one.
We’ve got a pair of mockingbirds that hit the cat feeder all day picking up one piece of food and flying off to eat it. They are brazen enough to do it even while a cat is sleeping nearby. So the feeder is a cat and bird feeder.
I spent about an hour yesterday fighting with the Borders on-line site trying to purchase The Planet Earth Complete Collection in HD for $9.99. They just stated their web site and it couldn’t handle the volume this bargain generated. I finally got my order through and confirmed. I bought 2 one for me and one for Christy. This morning I got an e-mail canceling the order because they ran out of the DVD. I e-mailed them and also talked to their customer support trying to either convince them to substitute for it or make it right some other way. I got passed up the line to a supervisor who flatly said no to anything except cancellation. They need to get a computer system like WOOT has that knows inventory and stops confirming orders when they run out. I’m giving Borders very poor ratings wherever I can but because they are new there aren’t many places to rate them.
I know I said I should give up on the tomatoes but I’m still covering the plants and I’m going to see what happens. The fruit is still growing and some look as if they are beginning to ripen.
No kitties have shown up tonight.
I cut some of the pieces for C&C’s cabinet today. It was the first time I used my new jigsaw (I’ve had it for about a year now) on a real project and it works great. Before this I’ve only used those little jigsaws. They work OK but there is no comparison with the ease and accuracy I can get with this one.
We’ve got a pair of mockingbirds that hit the cat feeder all day picking up one piece of food and flying off to eat it. They are brazen enough to do it even while a cat is sleeping nearby. So the feeder is a cat and bird feeder.
I spent about an hour yesterday fighting with the Borders on-line site trying to purchase The Planet Earth Complete Collection in HD for $9.99. They just stated their web site and it couldn’t handle the volume this bargain generated. I finally got my order through and confirmed. I bought 2 one for me and one for Christy. This morning I got an e-mail canceling the order because they ran out of the DVD. I e-mailed them and also talked to their customer support trying to either convince them to substitute for it or make it right some other way. I got passed up the line to a supervisor who flatly said no to anything except cancellation. They need to get a computer system like WOOT has that knows inventory and stops confirming orders when they run out. I’m giving Borders very poor ratings wherever I can but because they are new there aren’t many places to rate them.
I know I said I should give up on the tomatoes but I’m still covering the plants and I’m going to see what happens. The fruit is still growing and some look as if they are beginning to ripen.
No kitties have shown up tonight.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Afterglow
I’m still feeling the goodness of the past weekend. Family is so nice to have.
The one picture I didn’t put on line is the photo of all of us at the beach. So here it is.
The one picture I didn’t put on line is the photo of all of us at the beach. So here it is.
Today was the day for my pre-doctor’s visit blood work and also a haircut. Brie went back to the Vet today also—Penny took her because I had my haircut at the same time. We still don’t have a final verdict on her condition. The vet is running a culture to see if she still has the infection. We did find out why her appetite has been increasing and why she has been eating like she has a tapeworm. She does. She’s being treated for that also.
I got the shop ready for making the small cabinet for C&C. I also did preliminary planning for the lumber I need to build it. Christy will send me the dimensions of the area the cabinet will go into and I will finalize the dimensions.
All 4 kitties are back tonight.
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