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 My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| I read yet another story recently involving kids and the school bleachers. It reminded me of my school bleachers which were cement built into a hillside. There were no shenanigans under them. Yesterday, I drove by the old football field, which I usually ignore. But this time I strained my neck to see without wrecking on the busy road. They are gone! Trees and shrubs fill that hillside. The football field is now a parking lot for the county employees. The school was converted to a much needed larger office space years ago. Already there are more offices further south at the city's border. Like schools that are soon overflowing, so are government offices apparently. I felt very sad. All the times gym teachers made us run up and down the steps in the aisles are a distant memory. Watching games and homecoming pomp and pageantry have faded with my youth and ability to walk, much less run, up those steps. But there are also other changes in that nearby region. New businesses have spring up. The shops where we went for sodas or treats have been replaced by upscale cafes. Without teen customers, you can't have businesses that cater to them. Even the paper recycling bin that appeared after the school closed on the far corner of the lawn has disappeared. The parking spaces have all been reserved for residents and offices just uphill from my old school. I used to walk home everyday and went right through this lovely area that's now so congested with traffic. The lack of parking makes it undesirable for many people to do business downtown which is only one block away, formerly known as Main Street, now known as the downtown mall. It's all bricked in with no side streets. Another thing we didn't have when I was in school is homeless people plopped out on the mall all day every day, no matter the weather. We have plenty of shelters in town with air conditioning, but they prefer to socialize with more people in the sun. My grandmother's house on a busy intersection, where many relatives and friends have stayed, is now a barber shop. Oh, the memories of that place. The shopping center with major department stores is almost abandoned, and the county is using some of that space and parking lot for its purposes. What was once "the country" is now a thriving hectic business community with new roundabouts being constructed each year. No, nothing stays the same. Outside a museum or in our memories, that is. |
| Today I am at the library to use the computer (and donate some books to the sale). My Internet service is so lousy that it takes hours to do a few minutes of work. So it's amazing how much I can get done on a library computer. The convenience of having one at home at any hour is wonderful, but I feel like it wastes my time. If I drop the service, I can go to the library every day but Sunday when it is closed. It will save me money, but it will get me out of the house. And it's a little exercise the way this library branch is built on a hill. If I go when I'm running other errands the extra gas may not be prohibitive. I don't really want to start a new service until I resolve the Windows 10 situation. I don't have the money for a new PC. I understand it is because of potential security problems that the new version won't have, at least for a while. Because so many scammers and cheaters are out there, it's costing honest people, especially working class and low income people, money to be connected to the world of technology. One of the drawbacks of going to the library is another security hurdle. Most things work fine. But YAHOO requires one of those picture tests, such as click all the blocks that have traffic lights. After about 5 tests, it tells me I am taking too long and it blocks me out. It probably comes up because it doesn't recognize the device I am using. At home, if I'm checking my bank deposit, for instance, I get security alerts that I have used a foreign device. It is the same device I always use. I appreciate their caution with my info, but it makes it hard for a befuddled person like myself to do business. How secure are any of us anyway, even without a computer. I had a store charge card years ago, Their account was hacked, so they sent warnings not to use the card. Our data might have been compromised. I have been reassured by a bank branch manager that they have top notch security on their online accounts. It's still scary. Proceed with caution and a resolve to lose everything if need be. |
| I used to buy a national brand of peanut butter only when it was on sale at 99 cents. That doesn't happen any more. Even on sale, it's over $2.50. But the nutritionist told me I have to get the organic, all natural stuff, no salt or sugar added, and no hydrogenated oils added. You know the kind you have to stir and keep refrigerated. I lucked out the first few times and got some crunchy that tasted fair that was on a closeout special. Now I can't find it for less than $8 a jar. I was only using it as a substitute snack for sugar salty things. I guess I need some other substitute. I don't buy cookies or crackers any more. But my yen for them hasn't evaporated. I like carrots but they just don't fill in for graham crackers and milk. I couldn't believe the price on store brand graham crackers. That made them easier to pass by. I'm so old I remember when you could buy plain bread for less than a dollar. In fact, one year I drove by myself to Florida on gas that cost $.59 a gallon. (I bought the most memorable strawberries I've ever had in the Everglades from an Indian. Can't remember what I paid.) Fruit just doesn't seem worth it, as much as the experts preach to us to eat more fruit. Avocados are hard as a rock; leave in the refrigerator a few days and they turn brown and mushy. Strawberries look and smell good, cost plenty, but when you open the package, they're moldy in the middle where you can't see outside the package. You can't tell if a melon or a pineapple are ready to eat until you cut one open. I confess that pineapples have been reasonably priced considering they don't grow locally. The farmer's market may have fresh food that hasn't been trucked across several states, but you have to watch for worms and bugs hidden in the bunch or under the leaves. You still pay plenty. There are a lot of orchards in my region, and they charge the same as the grocery store. Chances are they were recently picked but who wants to drive further and go up steep curvy roads if you pay the same at the local store only blocks from home. At first I tried to do what the nutritionist said. Only grass fed butter and dairy products, nothing highly processed. (Isn't almond milk highly processed?) I have had to go back to the cheaper varieties of necessity. Old people on fixed incomes can't indulge in healthy, good for you stuff. |
| I have tried following package instructions, but either the directions are badly written, or the packages are badly designed, or I am extremely dense. I try ripping off the top above the red line on a resealable package, but it still won't open. I have used scissors to cut a straight line, but it still doesn't work. I frequently have to cut below the plastic zipper to get it open. There are household cleaners and medicines that require you push down while turning or squeeze while turning to get the top off. You end up spilling and possibly using language you don't want the children to hear. I can seldom open a child's toys without retrieving tools from the garage to cut or untwist wires and plastic straps. To prevent shoplifting, companies pack almost everything in vacuum sealed plastic, from ink pens to scissors, to batteries. And if your package comes by mail, it's inside other packaging, then wrapped or boxed again. You can see why shipping and handling cost so much. It's all the wrapping and boxing and sealing. Why have prices gone up so much? The food content in a bag or box may cost $1.00, labor and materials, but the packaging will cost another $1.00. They still want to pay overhead and make a profit. Then the distributor wants his share for handling it. Did I forget to mention they have to fill the bag or box (cereal for instance) with air to give a cushion while shipping? The air may be a precaution, but it also makes it look like you're getting more than you really are buying. Packaging is important to keep products safe, to aid in shipping, and to allow inventory to be kept as accurately as possible. But sometimes you wonder if the people who design these packages ever have to open them themselves. Does the guy trying to cut costs in the factory ever have to open a bottle of his company, or assemble a toy on a birthday or make a sandwich in a hurry? I think it should be a requirement of his or her job. |
| At one time. it appears, movie directors and actors thought smoking was sophisticated and sexy. Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis and glamour girls all smoked cigarettes. The men always had a light for them and would fight to see could get get the flame to her first. Even poor people were portrayed as smokers. Cool, level headed Andy Taylor smoked in bed. Jackie Gleason smoked cigars. I am appalled at how frequently we see famous people light up in old movies and TV shows. Today we would think they're throwing money away and endangering their health. I haven't kept track of more modern shows to see if characters were asked not to smoke or to take it outside. In real life tobacco products still sell by the truck loads. Employees take smoke breaks in between lunch breaks and official breaks. Non-smokers go out with them just to have equal time away from the desk or assembly line. Nobody in my family or circle of friends smoke. It would turn me off if a date lit one. My ex smoked heavily and was very annoying about it. I would find ashes inside the refrigerator door where he held one idly in his hand while searching through the shelves with the other hand. He thought he was doing me a favor when he rolled the car window down so he could smoke. The car still stank. It is just hard to imagine that a whole generation thought it was glamorous to light a cigarette in a romantic moment on screen. |
| I just perused a calendar I made for 2013. It had photos of my family from various occasions, some current at that time, and some even older. What fun to review them. One month was dedicated to cousins on my father's side and their offspring. Most of them are college graduates by now. Another month was for cousins on my mother's side, which included one photo of all of us years earlier at our house at Christmas. A lot of those people are no longer with us-my grandparents, my parents, several cousins, and two of my brothers. All of the kids in those pictures are grandparents now. I gave one month to each member of my immediate family which accounted for 6 months, one for my sister-in-law, and one to Thanksgiving decorations I use each year. It is fun to go thru them all grouped like that, and family members like to look once in a while. I like to show the younger children what their mothers looked like when they were their age. It occurred to me that this is a great idea for clubs and church groups. A collection of photos that you could keep long after the year was over. In fact, I think I need to do a new one with the next generation of my own family. They will have something to show their kids some day. |
| I just perused a calendar I made for 2013 It had photos of my family from various occasions, some current at that time, and some even older. What fun to review them. One month was dedicated to cousins on my father's side and their offspring. Most of them are college graduates by now. Another month was for cousins on my mother's side, which included one photo of all of us years earlier at our house at Christmas. A lot of those people are no longer with us-my grandparents, my parents, several cousins, and two of my brothers. All of the kids in those pictures are grandparents now. I gave one month to each member of my immediate family which accounted for 6 months, one for my sister-in-law, and one to Thanksgiving decorations I use each year. It is fun to go thru them all grouped like that, and family members like to look once in a while. I like to show the younger children what their mothers looked like when they were their age. It occurred to me that this is a great idea for clubs and church groups. A collection of photos that you could keep long after the year was over. In fact, I think I need to do a new one with the next generation of my own family. They will have something to show their kids some day. |
| Andy was a humorist/columnist who appeared on 60 Minutes each week and wrote quite a few books. I picked up my Dad's copy and starting reading. He had such a unique outlook and a twisted sense of humor. Every day topics, like women's high heels, or glass, could be a lengthy subject for his thoughts. He made so much common sense with his humor. And it was inspiring. Anyone having trouble blogging could use a little look at Andy Rooney's columns and get ideas. Who would guess such trivial matters would ring a universal bell with people. /the copy I'm reading was from 2001. I can only imagine how he would feel about things now. Women's shoes in 2025 might have a different take. Fashions for men have changed, too. Church clothes have changed to casual except in some black churches. And everyone has cell phones, which have stylish cases. Eye wear has evolved since then. As for advertising, newspapers are hard to come by and magazines are almost history. Ads are on the Internet and TV. And let's not forget podcasts. I'm sure Andy would have one if he were still living. Ads interrupt those as well. I thought I had run dry on blog ideas, but Andy has fueled the fire. I recommend any of his books. |
| It might be raining, so we will be confined indoors. However, My niece and her fiance will find a way to grill whatever is on their menu. Knowing her kids, they will play in the rain. I've thought about this. There will be two fathers there, the fiance and my brother. Only 3 kids with fathers will be there (two belong to the fiance and one is my nephew).All the adults have lost fathers and grandfathers. Three children have lost a father; the seven year old was halfway between heaven and earth when his father died at age 36 of a heart attack. He never got to meet his father. Those children have lost both their grandfathers and a great grandfather, my dad, in their lifetimes. So it's kind of a celebration and kind of a memorial. Or in our case, just an excuse to get together in the country and eat. They were all great fathers. Patient and giving, they were strong men who put family first. I'm sorry the little ones couldn't know that for themselves. The rest of us will remember and honor our fathers. (Mine was a daddy because I'm a Southerner.) |
| I was back outside this afternoon piling up brush that had been flattened slightly by rain. I ended up breaking off more dead pieces of the butterfly bush. I had not planned for this, so I had no gloves or clippers. But I found it oddly satisfying to stand there in the bright burning sun breaking off these "finished" twigs and branches. I left a big pile of them on the ground. I only quit because the skin on my arms was starting to hurt from the prickly dead twigs. I usually complain about the never ending work that needs to be repeated so soon. Today I found myself feeling satisfied and enjoying trimming these branches. I'm beginning to understand a little of why my older friend enjoys pulling weeds. No, I won't go that far. I just understand she gets some satisfaction from it. I was not on the ground, not crawling around, just doing tedious repetitive stuff. My mind was free to wander. Maybe work is its own reward. We don't have to have a paycheck or see beautiful results. Just doing the work fills something inside us. If idle hands are the devil's playground, then I was safe this afternoon. |
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