Cell Phone Adventure

Some weeks ago, my cell phone quit working. Nothing came up on the screen in response to the buttons being pushed and it wouldn't charge. After checking everything I knew how to check, and reading up on the subject in the User Guides, I went online. Found nothing that helped. So I researched new batteries and ordered one.

It took a couple weeks to arrive, during which I decided it really wasn't at all crucial that I even have a cell phone. Still, in the case of a dire emergency, it would be good to have. I have a deep fear and dread of being stranded in my car somewhere in the middle of the night, and that's why I got a cell phone in the first place.

When the battery finally arrived, I went back to the user guide to make sure I inserted it correctly. But nothing happened. No lights, no sound, nothing. Well, of course it needed to be charged first! Duh. So I plugged it into my charger... and again, nothing except the tiniest beep. An all-night charge accomplished nothing.

Mike tried the new (charged?) battery in his phone to see if it was a bad one to start with. Not only did the new battery not work, when he put in his old one, it didn't work anymore either! Sheeesh.

Fortunately, a trip to Sam's was scheduled, and Mike took both phones and all three batteries to the Sam's cell phone lady. She removed the battery doors, blew lightly on the contacts inside the phones, inserted the batteries one after another, and everything worked like a charm. Go figure. We were defeated by a teeny, tiny, invisible speck of dust.

Another lesson learned. Exaggerated problems only get worse. Keep it simple, stupid.

Seeing is Believing

For some time now I have been bemoaning the lack of good lighting in my kitchen. It has dark cabinets, dark floor, a north window hidden by a pantry and one small window on the west side above the sink. When the sun comes in that west window, I have to close the blinds or get blinded as I move around the room... so, still not enough light. I'm not overly fond of track lighting because it looks to me like a cheap stage set. Even a larger/brighter light hanging over the table would only add shadows to my working space along the counter tops. For a while I was enamored of the idea of skylights, but the more I researched, the more I was put off by the cost. Then, too, even the most expensive ones occasionally spring a leak. And, after all that, would a skylight give me the kind of light I want?

I suppose I am still spoiled by our Lost River house where there were 6' windows on the east side and along the entire 40' south side, bringing the brilliant outdoors inside. That makes the one little kitchen window in this house look pretty pathetic.

Today, I finally put up the new under-cabinet lighting fixtures I bought a few weeks ago, and by George, I think I've got it! The only downside is the all-too-obvious electrical cords, but I didn't want to search for battery-operated lights. Besides, if I live long enough, lights will be turned off and on by simply willing it. I can see the headline now: "Brain waves remove need for electrical grid."

These pictures show the before and after. I had to use the flash to get the left-hand "before" picture to show anything. The "after" picture was taken with the light coming only from the new under-cabinet fixtures. I am VERY pleased.

Post-Christmas

It's all over but the shouting... and the cleanup. Christmas seemed to take its time getting here, and now it's suddenly over and we're looking forward to the new year, 2010. Mike and I went to more celebrations than usual and even hosted a brunch. All were festive and joyful, because of the people mostly. Our kids and their mates are terrific, and it's always a pleasure to be with them, no matter what the reason.

Of course we indulged ourselves by eating way too much of the wrong kind of food, and we're both paying for it... but, hey! what are holidays for?! The frig and freezer are full , but in time the temptation will dwindle to the point that I'll be able to toss most of those leftovers. I had to sack up the chocolates, because we both love those the MOST.

The tree is looking a little lonely, even though we've left most of our gifts under and around it, so it will be coming down right after New Year's, if not before. The Christmas wrap and ribbon and tags have yet to be put away, as do the fun and silly knick-knacks I put out every year. The wonderful gifts, of which there were many, will be put into use and enjoyed and remembered as part of this year's joy.

Right now I'm in the midst of doing year-end bookkeeping for the golf course: W-2s, WH-3, SUTA, FUTA, 940, 941.... Without Quick Books Pro I would probably falter and fail at this job, but they make it easy. Of course, I get better at it every year, and learn new things that help the process. The golf course is all but shut down completely with the weather so cold and snowy, but 2010 memberships are pouring in, so we know that the golfers are already anxious to be out with their clubs.

Mike and I look forward to the peace and quiet of the winter months. We watch movies and read and sleep... and recover from the constant requirements of golf course management. However, it's inevitable that before long we will both be anxious for it all to start up again.

Multiplicity

The Christmas season can be a pain in the neck or it can be the most wonderful, joyous time of the year. Yesterday a clerk at the grocery store gushed, "Oh, I LOVE Christmas; it's my favorite holiday!", and then added, "It means the semester is almost over!" In essence, this dichotomy reflects the multiple reactions we have to Christmas. It made me smile and it started me thinking.

Some folks mourn the loss of the true meaning of Christmas, which church-going people celebrate as the birthday of Jesus, the beginning of mankind's salvation. It's nice to see the stable scene set up outside churches and in peoples' yards; it makes me a bit sentimental, remembering the Christmas songs and midnight masses of my childhood.

Others mourn the loss of Christmas traditions, which revolved around the warmth and comfort of family and food and the simple joys gift-giving. Those traditions have gone through a metamorphosis to become a mad rush to buy more and better gifts, to hurry up and mail out those cards before Christmas day, to host a Rachel Ray or a Martha Stewart dinner or brunch or open house, to have better and more decorations inside and out than the neighbors, to suffer stress and worry over what was once such a simple day.

We've certainly lost something along the way, haven't we?

There will always be the special feeling we have when family is gathered around, and that's not lost. We find ourselves excited as we watch someone open our gift, hoping they like it, knowing they will. When cards come in the mail, we're grateful for the touch of far-away friends and family. That feels pretty special. We can't help but smile when we set out the Christmas decorations we've had for years and years, because sometimes memories are better than what we have today.

Whenever there are children in the house over the Christmas holiday, we can't help but share their sparkle and excitement. We're drawn into their sense of wonder, and realize that most of us have lost that special joy. Maybe we need to search our memories for what was most important to us about past Christmases. We might just find enough there to jog us back into the amazement and delight of our own childhoods, and of the days when our own children were small. Perhaps then we will experience again the calm and silence and peace that Christmas offers.

Pre-Christmas Tree

Well, here it is, mid-December already and my blogging has really gone by the wayside. Much of my computer time these days is spent doing edits of Kiva loan descriptions, and of course lately I've been Christmas shopping online. There are winter projects lined up, too, involving a personal recipe book I've been working on for years and also the Dropbox photo albums Marty and I have been trying to find time for. Good thing I'm going to live forever!
I bit the bullet the other day and bought an artificial Christmas tree at WalMart. I never thought I would do such an awful thing. Christmas trees have to be REAL trees, preferably a LIVE tree, right?! However, we've not had any kind of tree for the last 2 or 3 years, and it just got too sad. Having no little children around changes the character of the holiday season entirely, and I guess that was my excuse. During those "off" years, though, it was nice to rid myself of all the "shoulds" and "oughts" that used to surround Christmas.
Anyway, here it is. THE TREE. Pretty poor excuse, but better than nothing... that's all I can say. Maybe next year I'll have a better idea how to arrange the branches so it isn't all cattiwampus.
Now to get the shopping done. Groan. Oh, and the Christmas cards, too! Oops.

Thanksgiving

...and then suddenly it was Thanksgiving!

We had dinner at Marty and Laura's new home in Noblesville; they've lived there only two weeks and already they have it painted, furnished and decorated so completely one would think they had lived there for a long time. Laura is a master decorator, a talent I am sorely lacking, so I was in awe. Seeing the house for the first time were Mike, Eric, Lucas, Ian, Miki and Kevin, so Marty had a well-orchestrated guided tour for them. I went along and thoroughly enjoyed it, because everything looked so different when I was last there on Nov. 6th & 7th, painting completely empty rooms. Including Laura's daughter, Kayla, we numbered 10.

Laura is also a very good cook. Determined to please every palate, she had prepared several side dishes to go with a big turkey and a ham. She also had five desserts, so there was more than plenty to go around (they'll be eating leftovers for a few days!). We all had a great time and it seemed Marty and Laura were very happy hosts. Mike and I had a second Thanksgiving dinner tonight with the food I brought home from there. Oof, too full again!

Danielle had 16 at her house in Kirkland, WA. She and Phil were pleased to put their newly renovated kitchen through its paces, and also pleased the crowd by announcing Danielle's pregnancy... another girl, due in early June!

There's nothing lacking in my life, and I have so much to be thankful for, I can't begin to list it all. I dare not even think about it too much for fear of tempting fate.

Christmas is coming fast on the heels of Thanksgiving, and though I've begun shopping, it's far from done. I'm seriously considering getting a tree this year; it's been many years since we had a Christmas tree, and maybe it's time. I'm even considering sending out cards via snail mail, which would be a truly old-fashioned Christmas!

There were lots of shoppers on the road today, even in small-town Loogootee. I'm sure the WalMarts across the country were full of customers. Colleen had to work the holiday, actually pulling the night shift Wednesday to get ready for the crowds, and then also having to be there when the doors opened to the madness of Black Friday. It would have been nice to have her with us at Marty's, but it was not to be.

Many busy days ahead. I'm going to concentrate on the good stuff and try to block out everything that's going on politically, both locally and globally. It's just too much to hear it all and know I am helpless to change things, except in my own little back yard (where all the good things are happening anyway :)

Halloween - Past and Present

THIS IS A TIMID DAYTIME JACK O'LANTERN


When I was a kid, we waited anxiously until it was pitch-black dark before we went trick-or-treating. If there was a parent, they usually carried a flashlight, but us kids relied on our "night-vision cat-eyes", and considered it sissy to carry a light. We were free to go anywhere and knock on any door, say "Trick Or Treat!", and hold out our brown paper grocery sack for the goodies.



THIS IS A SCARY NIGHT-TIME EVIL PUMPKIN!

You could usually tell which house was rich and which was not by the quality and amount of candy they handed out. One year we got an entire caramel candy apple on a stick from one house, and a softball-sized popcorn ball from another. Rarely did we get a candy bar, but I was happy with Tootsie Rolls or Tootsie Pops, or even the smaller lollipops. Double Bubble gum was another favorite, even though Mother didn't like us to chew gum (not ladylike). We never worried about there being a razor blade in an apple or a poison pill in a box of Milk Duds.

Favorite costumes were hobos, clowns, cowboys, witches, scarecrows, and mummies. If your mom made the costume, you were a sissy; if it was store-bought, you were a spoiled brat. The best costumes were put together at home, with the moms and older kids helping.

We ran in bunches from house to house, knocking or ringing the bell, and when someone answered the door we all shrieked, "Trick or Treat!" at the top of our lungs. It was a very special and happy time.

When my older sister and I went out together, we sometimes took a jar of Vaseline to grease doorknobs or car windows, but only on the houses where no one answered the door or where they were grumpy and mean. That was the only "trick" we even knew about. Nobody "toilet-papered" other people's yards and trees and houses back then. If there was a group of older boys being loud and raucous and running down the middle of the street, we quickly cut over to the next block. I guess they were the genuine tricksters.

When I was in high school, I had to take my little sister around on Halloween. Boy, was that boring! She was so shy... but she was so cute... always looking like a little orphan with her big brown eyes and straight-as-a-stick brown hair. In those days, the homeowners would invite the kids inside and talk to them about their costumes, making a big deal out of trying to guess who each kid was. If we didn't actually know the people, it was frightening to be in their house. Very scary, much scarier than being outside in the dark!

Once back home, we would dump out our treats on the living room floor and make some trades, sometimes even sharing with a parent. After stuffing ourselves sick, our treat bags went into our own clothes closets, where they rarely lasted through November. I don't remember being told to ration the candy to "one a day", nor being reminded that sugar rots your teeth. It was our "take" and it was ours to eat.

Sure not like today. People still carve pumpkins, but this year I have a PLASTIC Jack O'Lantern in the front yard that lights up at night. Some folks decorate their yards with strings of orange lights... how weird is that? The Wal-Mart costumed trick-or-treaters go with their parents and their flashlights to allowed areas at designated hours. Anyone walking around outside after dark is deeply suspect, Halloween or not. The stores are packed full of individually wrapped candy for sale, as if the wrappers would prevent some maniac from poisoning kids.

Sure, we buy candy. Sure, we leave our porch light on. Sure, nobody comes. Sure, we eat the candy ourselves. Trick-or-Treat!

The Great Coffeemaker Adventure

What do you do when your old faithful coffeemaker goes kaput? Reach down into the cabinet and pull out another one? Not likely. Check out the warranty on “old faithful”? In my case, that was only to learn that, duh, I bought it in 2006 and the warranty ran out in 2007. Um-m-m, okay, now what? No time to delay when your body is screaming, “Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!”

What happened was that it was taking much too long for the water to drip through the filter into the old coffeepot, and the coffee grounds/water mix was overflowing the filter, making a mess and putting grounds into the coffee, ugh-yuk. Why? Not because there were too many grounds in the filter, because we only make 7 cups at a time (5 oz. cups that turn out to be about 2-1/2 mugs); couldn’t be because the filters were too small (short on the sides) because we were using the same size for years; couldn’t be the coffee itself, because again, it was the same old coffee. Research showed that sometimes if the water is too soft (!) it won’t flow through well, causing overflow. Again, we’ve been using the same water softener for years, with no apparent change in the art of coffee-making. So, what now?

Delay not being a possibility, I rushed off to Pamida (where I had gotten the old (bad) coffeemaker in 2006) and bought another one of the same brand (though a more recent version). Gleefully unpacking and setting up this new purchase, I stuffed the old pot and the packing from the new pot into one of the big trashcans outside the back door. Next morning… same thing happened… coffee grounds overflow… plus the new coffeemaker seemed to be making a great deal more noise than the old (bad) one. Not a good sign.

Pamida’s newspaper ad for the week showed a Bunn coffeepot on sale for what seemed an enormous amount of money, but knowing that the professionals used Bunn coffeemakers, I assumed it would be worth it. So… cleaned up the recently purchased coffeemaker to look new again… recovered the packing from the trashcan, wiped it off and gave it a good dose of Lysol spray… reassembled the box and took it with the sales slip back to Pamida. Bought a Bunn.

Turns out you have to buy special Bunn filters for a Bunn coffeemaker. Also turns out the filters have the same dimensions as the others, EXCEPT the sides are higher. Anyway, I set up the new coffeemaker only to discover that it requires two coffeepots full of water to sit inside it where it stays warm (!) until you add a third coffeepot full when you actually want some coffee. Certainly NOT an energy saver, plus you would be using less than fresh water to make your coffee. Mike and I both quickly said, “Thanks, but no thanks!” An electrical appliance that creates heat uses lots of electricity… and coffee tastes better when made with fresh, cold water.

Back to the drawing board. I packed up the Bunn for return and refund, and made the trip to Wal Mart. There I found a selection of coffeemakers that were, for the most part, of the same type as the Bunn… store and heat water for future coffee! (Gotta wonder if some electric company lobbyist got to the coffeemaker manufacturers!) Now, realize also how much more room these coffeemakers take up on your kitchen counter… twice as much! Inconvenience on top of expense… Again, no thanks.

You may have guessed my next move. Bought a new coffeemaker of the same brand as the original (bad) one, BUT bought Bunn brand filters (remember, higher sides). It works fine. Takes a little longer to drip through (haven’t figured out why!) but does NOT overflow.

You know, I’m convinced I could do without quite so much “adventure” in my life.

Coincidentally, an ad for Gevalia coffee and free coffeemaker arrived in the mail that day. Did you guess it? Yes, I ordered some coffee to get the free coffeemaker. Now, if our everyday coffeemaker “goes kaput” I can “reach down into the cabinet and pull out another one”!!

The Moon and the Tides

Is everyone affected by the moon like I am? There is a connection between the phases of the moon and the tides, so I'm told, and I believe that completely. I also think there is a very personal connection between myself and the moon.

For one thing, I've discovered that my hair grows faster during one phase, and doesn't grow at all in another. Probably my moods are affected, too, but I've never kept track since everything affects my moods.

I nearly always have trouble sleeping when there is a full moon. Why? I even have blackout shades on my bedroom windows, so it's not the light. I awakened shortly after 4 am today and tossed and turned until just after 5, when I gave up and got up. When I entered the kitchen I was amazed at the amount of light coming through the blinds, raised them up and there he was... the old man in the moon looking right in at me. It appeared to be a completely full moon, sharp edges and all. I checked the calendar, and sure enough! Full moon!

Sometimes I wonder just how much control we each actually have over our lives. Being connected to everything, as I believe we are, then I suppose it follows that we are affected by everything in some way.

Does this sound like superstition? Hocus-pocus? Am I someone who needs to be concerned about my "sign" and its corresponding daily horoscope? Well, shoot, these questions just confirm my notion that it pays to believe everything, so no matter what happens I won't be left out as a non-believer!

14 yr. old Lucas, a North Daviess Cougar!

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