Boy, it's been a hot one, hasn't it? BUT, for two nights, I have been able to shut off the air conditioning and open the windows to the sound of the cicadas chirping, the birds chirping and the garbage trucks smashing garbage.
Mippy and Bird's air conditioner quit, just stopped. Too much heat for an old unit. So, I'll not complain. Much.
As I mentioned, I am volunterring at an animal shelter. There is a wonderful dog there, Belle. She is older...nine to be exact. And she is the sweetest dog ever. Gently, affectionate, beautiful. BUT, extremely aggressive with other dogs. When I first walked her, she snarled, growled and barked furiously at every dog in sight. I have been working with her diligently to see if we could alleviate some of this behavior. Treats work wonders. I have been watching the "Dog Whisperer", as has Bird and Bean (Monkeyboy, also, I think). So, I apppealed to the shelter to allow me to bring Belle home with me to see if, together, Bird and I could help both Oscar and Belle to become less dog aggressive.
We met in a neutral location...the cemetary. When the dogs spotted one another, they immediately began barking, snarling, pulling going crazy. Bird has a much better handle on this, so we took the dogs to a grassy area and Bird and I both (me with much struggle) put the dogs into a submissive posture. Oscar calmed quicker, it took Belle some time. Once they were both calm, we allowed them to get up. Belle started again, so down she went. She calmed quicker this time, so we began to walk them side by side, but with great distance between them. As they walked, we began to move closer, and they seemed ok. When we turned to walk back, another episode, short lived though. As you can see, by the end of the walk, they did very well. Oscar walked to his home and Belle and I went back to the shelter. Upon arrival, Belle did not want to go inside and had to be coaxed. This is the worst part for me. Later in the week, I took Bean and Monkeyboy out to see the shelter. We wanted to meet Prudence, but she wasn't there...perhaps....could she have been adopted?
Road trip in three days. Two days at the farm and seven at the beach. Today we meet to plan meals. There will be five of us this year. Monkeyboy, Sprout, Bean and Bean's friend, for whom we don't have a name. Each of us has to plan, shop for and prepare a dinner. That will be the plan for today. Love the road trips. We pick up the van on Wednesday and head out around lunchtime. On the road to arrive at the farm shortly before dinner. Then early Friday we head to the beach.
I hope everyone is surviving the heat. It's been a pretty harsh summer. I'm sure, when I was a kid, we had summers this hot. I don't remember them much. We didn't have air conditioning, but our house was surrounded by large trees that helped keep it cool.
Phipps has been very, very, very hot. I am amazed at the number of people who come in and think it is air conditioned. They come out after visiting, in puddles, saying "I thought it would be cooler". Noooo, it's a glass house! And very hot...did I mention that?
Have a wonderful Sunday and try to stay cool.
Iowa
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A Bad Week
When does a bad day become a bad week?
When you go to the dentist with a toothache and are told there is no cavity, that you are grinding your teeth.
When your assistant manager comes to you and tells you that you have an appointment to meet with her and your manager.
When you are driving home from work and you see flashing lights in your rear view mirror, and when you pull over, so do the police.
When you are ready to blog and your computer goes off and when it comes back on a message says that you have a corrupt or missing file and you have to restore or reformat your computer.
When Monkeyboy's team does not play at their best and the idiot parents on the other team just keep screaming at the top of their lungs. I mean, come on, when you are ahead by 14 runs, do you really need to keep screaming? By the way, Monkeyboy did an excellent job of relief pitcher. The team did not give up and fought till the end. Second place is not such a bad thing. And there is another tournament this weekend. Redemtion is just around the corner.
It seems that when under ANY stress at all, I grind my teeth at night. I was told to wear a mouth guard, but when I put it in my mouth I couldn't close my mouth, so it sits in my drawer, $19 down the tube.
I drove home from work on Friday in the 90 something heat. Took the side street that I always take. Two stop signs. Police officer said that I went through the first one and issued a citation. Now, IF I did, I will gladly pay the fine of $25. I do not understand an EMS fee of $10. Nor do I understand the MCARE fee of $30 for Medical Care of Availability and Reduction of Error Fund.....WHAT IS THAT? And then there is the fee for JCP/AT...that would be the Judicaial Computer Project/Access to Justice. Oh, and don't forget the court costs of $35.50 for a grand total of $110.50, Also 3 points on my license. I believe you can plead guilty by computer and pay the fine. So, for what would I be paying the court costs? I went to the office of the Magistrate this morning to talk to them. There were four women and a dog in the office. Yes, a dog. I love dogs, as you know, but here this dog was, sitting on a chair in the Magistrate's office.
So, I came home on Friday. Turned on the computer, as I always do to check my email. Did that, got some dinner and sat down to watch the news. I went back in and did some searching on the computer to see about my ticket. Then I went to blog, and alas, the stupid message appeared. After trying multiple things to try to fix it, I went to bed. Tried off and on all weekend to no avail.
So, yesterday, I took the plunge and did a full system restore with backup. It worked fine, except I had to call Verizon to reset my router. Then I had to call Norton to update my security. I spoke with Satheese. Satheese lives in southern India. He is married and has two children. He travels for 45 minutes each day on his way to and from work. He works for nine hours, but gets one hour for lunch. There are many people, according to Satheese, that want a job like his. He has been there for four years and won't leave since it is so difficult to find a job. He has never been to the states, but invited me to come to southern India. He would like to visit us here, but cannot afford to do so with his family. You may wonder how I know so much about Satheese. It's because we talked for the thirty minutes it took him to remotely load Norton. By the way, my subscription ends next month, and he reminded me that I didn't want to let it lapse because it was protection for my computer. I did remind him, in a pleasant way, that it did not protect my computer, and that was why I was on the phone with him now. He acknowledged that there was a failure.
Fortunately, all my pictures were saved, but if you have ever emailed me, do it again. I lost my email addresses.
Things seem to settling down. The weather is cooler, Bean's production is tomorrow night, I will be able to go to the shelter tomorrow to walk dogs....always a bright spot for me.
When you go to the dentist with a toothache and are told there is no cavity, that you are grinding your teeth.
When your assistant manager comes to you and tells you that you have an appointment to meet with her and your manager.
When you are driving home from work and you see flashing lights in your rear view mirror, and when you pull over, so do the police.
When you are ready to blog and your computer goes off and when it comes back on a message says that you have a corrupt or missing file and you have to restore or reformat your computer.
When Monkeyboy's team does not play at their best and the idiot parents on the other team just keep screaming at the top of their lungs. I mean, come on, when you are ahead by 14 runs, do you really need to keep screaming? By the way, Monkeyboy did an excellent job of relief pitcher. The team did not give up and fought till the end. Second place is not such a bad thing. And there is another tournament this weekend. Redemtion is just around the corner.
It seems that when under ANY stress at all, I grind my teeth at night. I was told to wear a mouth guard, but when I put it in my mouth I couldn't close my mouth, so it sits in my drawer, $19 down the tube.
I drove home from work on Friday in the 90 something heat. Took the side street that I always take. Two stop signs. Police officer said that I went through the first one and issued a citation. Now, IF I did, I will gladly pay the fine of $25. I do not understand an EMS fee of $10. Nor do I understand the MCARE fee of $30 for Medical Care of Availability and Reduction of Error Fund.....WHAT IS THAT? And then there is the fee for JCP/AT...that would be the Judicaial Computer Project/Access to Justice. Oh, and don't forget the court costs of $35.50 for a grand total of $110.50, Also 3 points on my license. I believe you can plead guilty by computer and pay the fine. So, for what would I be paying the court costs? I went to the office of the Magistrate this morning to talk to them. There were four women and a dog in the office. Yes, a dog. I love dogs, as you know, but here this dog was, sitting on a chair in the Magistrate's office.
So, I came home on Friday. Turned on the computer, as I always do to check my email. Did that, got some dinner and sat down to watch the news. I went back in and did some searching on the computer to see about my ticket. Then I went to blog, and alas, the stupid message appeared. After trying multiple things to try to fix it, I went to bed. Tried off and on all weekend to no avail.
So, yesterday, I took the plunge and did a full system restore with backup. It worked fine, except I had to call Verizon to reset my router. Then I had to call Norton to update my security. I spoke with Satheese. Satheese lives in southern India. He is married and has two children. He travels for 45 minutes each day on his way to and from work. He works for nine hours, but gets one hour for lunch. There are many people, according to Satheese, that want a job like his. He has been there for four years and won't leave since it is so difficult to find a job. He has never been to the states, but invited me to come to southern India. He would like to visit us here, but cannot afford to do so with his family. You may wonder how I know so much about Satheese. It's because we talked for the thirty minutes it took him to remotely load Norton. By the way, my subscription ends next month, and he reminded me that I didn't want to let it lapse because it was protection for my computer. I did remind him, in a pleasant way, that it did not protect my computer, and that was why I was on the phone with him now. He acknowledged that there was a failure.
Fortunately, all my pictures were saved, but if you have ever emailed me, do it again. I lost my email addresses.
Things seem to settling down. The weather is cooler, Bean's production is tomorrow night, I will be able to go to the shelter tomorrow to walk dogs....always a bright spot for me.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Fashion
I have to wonder when it became fashionable to show your underwear when you are in public.
A number of years ago it became fashionable (?) for young men to wear their pants halfway down their butt and to show off their boxers. The crotch of their pants came midway between the knee and their crotch. In amazement, I watched them swagger down the street showing off their boxers. There was, however, a problem if they had to run.
Perhaps it was even before that. Sometimes with the low ride jeans, or jeans that had become low ride because of a (ahem) weight gain, when bending down, not only did your underwear show, but your butt crack showed.
On a recent shopping trip I went searching for some summer tops. I noticed an inordinate number of see through tops. Very shear, very cool looking for summer. However, I wondered, what does one wear under those blouses? So, I began to look around, and alas, it appears as though women wear....their bras. Colored bras, striped bras, even polka dot bras.
Sometimes however, the style seems to be to wear layers of tank tops, which seems to defeat the idea of dressing for comfort...at least for me. And if you don't want to wear layers, just wear one, with the bra straps showing.
And not only does one wear tank tops with bra straps showing....sometimes the whole back of the bra shows.
When did this trend start? When was it okay to have your underwear become outerwear? A friend blames it on Lady Gaga (whom I adore). But the whole saggy pants thing started before Gaga.
I know, I am getting older, and fashion statments sometimes elude me. I have to admit, some teens can actually get off with the layered tank tops, the cute bras under the see through tops. But then there are those....well, I wonder....do people look in the mirror before they leave their house?
OK, I admit it, sometimes I go out looking awful. I think we all do. I will clean my mirror tonight so that I can look in it and actually see how I look. And I won't go to the wine store with pizza all over my shirt and paint stained pants.
A number of years ago it became fashionable (?) for young men to wear their pants halfway down their butt and to show off their boxers. The crotch of their pants came midway between the knee and their crotch. In amazement, I watched them swagger down the street showing off their boxers. There was, however, a problem if they had to run.
Perhaps it was even before that. Sometimes with the low ride jeans, or jeans that had become low ride because of a (ahem) weight gain, when bending down, not only did your underwear show, but your butt crack showed.
On a recent shopping trip I went searching for some summer tops. I noticed an inordinate number of see through tops. Very shear, very cool looking for summer. However, I wondered, what does one wear under those blouses? So, I began to look around, and alas, it appears as though women wear....their bras. Colored bras, striped bras, even polka dot bras.
Sometimes however, the style seems to be to wear layers of tank tops, which seems to defeat the idea of dressing for comfort...at least for me. And if you don't want to wear layers, just wear one, with the bra straps showing.
And not only does one wear tank tops with bra straps showing....sometimes the whole back of the bra shows.
When did this trend start? When was it okay to have your underwear become outerwear? A friend blames it on Lady Gaga (whom I adore). But the whole saggy pants thing started before Gaga.
I know, I am getting older, and fashion statments sometimes elude me. I have to admit, some teens can actually get off with the layered tank tops, the cute bras under the see through tops. But then there are those....well, I wonder....do people look in the mirror before they leave their house?
OK, I admit it, sometimes I go out looking awful. I think we all do. I will clean my mirror tonight so that I can look in it and actually see how I look. And I won't go to the wine store with pizza all over my shirt and paint stained pants.
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