You Can’t Make This Stuff Up…

On Friday I was out quite a bit in the morning. This is the last weekend of Motorcycle Week and my little bit of Heaven is jam-packed with people, mostly Bikers.

Since I had to drive Lili out to the Veterinarian and then go back to pick her up after her teeth cleaning, trust me, I saw way more driving than I wanted to be doing.

On my way out and back in the early morning, the Bikers were just up. Restaurant parking lots were packed with isle after isle of motorcycles. Most of these people were middle-aged and were riding their HOGS (Harley Davidson). Some were riding the newer fad for us Senior Citizens, a three-wheel trike so as not to fall over.

The disturbing vision I saw was a younger Biker with no helmet, who had a 5 or 6-year-old boy on the back of his bike. The child did have a helmet on but was wearing shorts and sneakers and a short sleeve shirt. He also did not fit in, tucked next to his Dad, but was positioned so he almost looked like he was flying behind the bike. I just felt like this was a tragedy waiting to happen.

The next bike passenger made me both laugh and shake my head. She was a young woman, with neat French braids. She wore no helmet, but here is a list of her clothing.

One pair of cut-off jeans shorts, that are the shortest I’ve ever seen. She was very thin, so she could get away with them at say, a cookout, but…

Next, she was wearing a tube top. This skinny little top left nothing to the imagination and I think this item might be banned in several states!  I would bet one large bump would find her girls displayed for all to see! But here was the ultimate of unsafe bike-wear. On her feet, she was wearing flip-flops! Now there is a girl who would suffer severe road-rash and injury should her boyfriend have an accident driving his bike.

Honest to goodness, you can’t make this stuff up!

Meanwhile, the constant hum of motorcycles continues and tonight there will be live music less than a mile from our home. It is what it is. Once a year, loud, a boatload of cash coming into our area. After a smaller Bike Week last year due to Covid, people are really enjoying this year! And it’s good for our businesses!

PS: Lili made out very well with her dental. Her teeth were all perfect and now her teeth are clean!

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OMG!

I once again need to thank my former computer Guru, Brad. You see, after being inundated with horrific SPAM, I finally called to find out what the heck was going on with my ISP.

Well, the company that purchased my Metrocast Internet Provider two years ago, and promised us that nothing would change, decided it was too costly for them to pay for SPAM protection for those of us with Metrocast. We needed to change our service over to them, which required an email change.

So on Saturday, I set things up with the new company to change our email, and to have it forwarded for 6 months while we batten down the hatches.

It was a bit more involved because our email program wouldn’t just allow me to change things. I needed to download the files from our email, back up our address books, and then delete the old email program, and then reinstall it with the new email address. After that, move the files back into the program.

Now, I know how to do it, but my gosh, it was for Jack’s email address and my two, an awful lot of work.

Fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be) I was suffering from a cold and a sore back. So, being quiet and doing the work on both laptops was probably a good thing.

However, that being said, by the end of Monday I was exhausted. (And also ticked off at our ISP Service for

  1. Not telling us that they were going to stop email SPAM protection,
  2. And also causing a mess, as they said our email would be forwarded to the correct new email addresses, but I am getting ALL of Jack’s email. (And he gets a lot!)

So life is going on and it’s my hope that the worst is over. I still need to call them to fix Jack’s Metrocast email from being forwarded to me.

Please pass the Aspirin!

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Whines~day Wednesday

Tuesday was my first dental exam in a year. I’d been putting it off due to my own Covid Fears. However, I finally gathered up my courage, and off I went.

I was a little worried I might have cavities, and I know my jaw clenching isn’t a good thing.

All that being said, I came through my exam with flying colors, with the exception of tooth #5. It has had a small crack for a few years, but I’m afraid my jaw clenching caused the crack to get worse. Ugh!

So, I must have the tooth prepped and have a crown placed on it. Double Ugh!!!

I go back in one week to start the process and I will be footing the bill for half of this crown! That is $800.00 I will watch fly out the window. But I have made the commitment to keep as many teeth as possible, so I will cough up the money. The insurance company pays the other half. That is one very expensive tooth!

On the weather side of things, we had zero degrees Fahrenheit with 45-50 MPH winds and all the light snow that fell overnight was blown around, causing whiteouts! It sure was fun! Not!

I am sure looking forward to Springtime!

Have a great day everyone!

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New England Humor

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders…

Forget Rednecks ….

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in New England.

If you’ve worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England.

If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England.

If Vacation means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England.

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England.

If you have switched from ‘heat’ to ‘A/C’ on the same day and back again, you live in New England.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England.

If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you live in New England.

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in New England.

If you design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England.

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph you’re going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in New England.

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England.

If you find 10 degrees ‘a little chilly’, you live in New England.

If there’s a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England.

If you think everyone else has a funny accent, you live in New England.

If you actually understand these jokes and forward them to all your New England friends, you live or have lived in New England.

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Snow?

Monday arrived and there is no snow yet. I wonder if weatherpeople can actually come close with their forecasts? It seems lately they have been unbelievably off.

Our snow was supposed to start in the mid-afternoon. But so far we have nary a flake! We have heating oil, groceries and Jack went to the recycling center with a full load of trash, so we are truly prepared for what may come. But so far, nothing.

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Never Wordless

A few bloggers I know do a Wordless Wednesday Meme each week. I knew that this wasn’t one for me. Since the day I was born I haven’t been wordless. In fact, my parents considered naming me Chatty Kathy.

All through my childhood, I was one of those kids who just talked. I drove my sister crazy. We would be lying in bed at night and I would start talking and asking her questions and I would go on and on and on. She would kindly tell me, “Good Night”, and I’d reply, “Good Night”, only to go right back to chatting all over again.

As the years passed I moved in with my Grandparents. I would sit and talk to my Grandmother for hours. I would tell her about school, about my day, and go on and on.

She once told me, after I had married and left home, that the worst part of my moving out was the silence. The one and only time anyone has said this to me.

A few years ago a friend of Jack’s’ was driving me across Florida to meet Jack at another airport. We were driving along and I was doing my usual chatting, hardly taking a breath. Finally, he interrupted me and said, “I bet you can’t shut up for 10 minutes”.

Ten minutes? Not a problem. We started the clock. One second, two seconds, three seconds…It was the longest ten minutes of my life! I did, however, make it, although I felt slightly queasy afterward. My reward? A dinner of fresh Blue Crabs at the Crab House!

I don’t think I talk as much as I once did. At least I try not to. In my “Golden Years” I have learned that it is best to listen, more than to talk.

Although sometimes if I am nervous or self-conscious, my motor mouth starts and I admit to being upset afterward that perhaps I’ve said the wrong thing.

Still, there is a lot of beauty in words, and I can appreciate that. I just need to remember to keep my mouth closed and my ears wide open!

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Monday, Monday…

My Monday was stressful! What else can I say? Nothing was as I had thought it would be, but somehow, somehow I got through the day. But it’s a good thing I have naturally low blood pressure because much of the day found me feeling pretty frustrated.

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So in order not to get lost in the minutia, I will simply bullet list my days’ events!

  • Jack and I had spoken and decided to bring Arnie in on Monday to our Vet. This skin problem is something we are both very concerned about and we wanted to be sure he knew about the latest events and saw it in person.
  • I happen to notice that both Arnie and Anneliese were due for their yearly shots. So when I made the appointment for Arnie to be seen, we planned to give both dogs their vaccines.
  • But as I drove out to the Vet’s Office I was thinking about Anneliese and all her fussing. I started to wonder if she had another UTI.
  • Upon my arrival at their office, I called them and explained my hunch. They brought out a small bowl and we walked Anneliese until the magic moment.
  • Arnie went in first, was checked out, and brought back after his shots.
  • Next Anneliese went in, had her exam and shots, and then she was returned to the car.
  • The Vet came out and we spoke about Arnie and the plan of attack for his recovery. A spray was included to help with the healing.
  • Then the subject came to my little girl. Yes indeed, she does have another UTI!
  • She was prescribed another antibiotic and then we were off.
  • At about this time, heavy snow began to fall! It was incredibly pretty, but fairly quickly, the roads became slick. Thankfully, by the time I reached our hometown, the snow had stopped and all was good.
  • I dropped them off at home and then went and did our grocery shopping. I stopped to get the mail, as I knew that Anneliese’s pain medication was there. But once again the US Postal Service let me down.
  • It actually arrived here on December 26th at 12:01 PM. Of course, that was too late to be delivered to be on a Saturday. But surely today, Monday, the package would be there! Ah no. Not sorted.
  • I told the Postal Worker I would be coming back. This package was very important to my pups!
  • Once I unloaded the groceries, had a quick lunch, I returned to the Post Office with my Tracking number. The Worker was not thrilled about finding this box, but I wasn’t leaving without it!
  • Let’s just say that I am one very determined woman, especially where my pups are concerned.
  • The box was found and I was able to give them their medication with their dinner!
  • I also had a weird thing happen with Lili. She’d gone out and was in the yard for a bit, and I called her to come in. She looked almost skittish like something had scared her. I went out and called to her again and she finally came in.
  • Dinner was made and cleaned up and it’s finally 8:15 on Monday night and I am able to sit down! Going to bed will be next and very soon!

Yes, it was a very long day!

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It’s All In A Days Work

Tuesday found me excelling at my house-work. Almost as soon as I got up I was using our roof rake to take off some of the snow that was up there.

I will say this, I’ve never done roof raking before, and after three separate times outside doing this, parts of my body began to object.

So, I decided to come in and make the Seafood Lasagna, which I will cook for Jack’s Christmas Dinner.

Now I will say that I used just about every pot in my kitchen in the preparation of this lasagna! No kidding, I filled the dishwasher when I was done!

That took me two hours to do, and once this was done, I started the laundry, went to the Post Office, and then came home and had to figure out what to make for dinner. Using the leftover lasagna pasta, I made a small Italian Lasagna.

I finally finished with dinner dishes, walked the dogs, and now I am just waiting to put the last laundry load into the dryer. Then I will be done for the day.

I am quite happy with all that I got done, But I am sure in the morning, when this old body gets out of bed, I will be one hurtin’ pup!

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I Did It! Thanks Brad!!!

I must tell you after a few days of trying to get my computer to talk to my wireless printer, I decided to see if my computer needed any driver updates. Of course, it did, and after downloading and installing four updates, my computer connected to the printer, and all is well!

I have one person to thank for all of this. The gentleman’s name is Brad. He taught me about computers every time he came to fix mine. He encouraged me to work on my machines myself. And to follow hunches that I had, because they were pretty accurate.

Brad believed in me when I did not believe in myself. He has been a real friend to me all of these years and I say Thank You to him on this day.

I still have one program I have not been able to download onto the laptop, but I know eventually I will. I am not giving up!

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What Could Have Been…

Last night I had written a post about my computer woes and how I have learned to fix them over time. Ah, the words flowed from my fingers onto the keyboard, as I composed sheer poetry! Never have I explained a situation with mere words in such an expressive manner.

I knew I would surely win the Pulitzer Prize for Blogging, so I asked Jack who is an English Language/Grammer enthusiast, to go over this masterpiece and correct it for me, before I posted it, and likewise to send a copy to Columbia University for Pulitzer consideration.

I went into the kitchen to start dinner and he sat down with a glass of wine to begin the task at hand.

Then I heard it! Those fateful words. “The post has disappeared!” I ran to the computer, took it from his hands, and I looked. Gone! Gone! All my hopes of International fame and fortune! Gone!

Jack apologized over and over, but I knew in my heart that life would never be the same.

When I die now, my obituary will read…” and she would have won a Pulitzer Prize for Blogging, but her husband accidentally deleted the post”.

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